How to Implement a Smart Metering Project

The project in phases

Implementing advanced metering is not buying meters. It is starting up a system that mixes field equipment, communications, software, commercial processes and customer service. An order of phases reduces risk, because each phase confirms what the next one needs.

Regulators commonly ask the utility for a rollout plan whose minimum content includes:

• the characteristics of the market and the assessment of the meter fleet;
• the pilot results and the technologies;
• the outreach and the schedule;
• the risks and the benefit-cost analysis.

The phases in this guide follow that logic and also serve an industry with many metering points.

Phase 1: assessment

It answers the question «where do we start from?».

• Meter fleet. How many there are, of what type, how old they are and which already have some advanced function.
• Network and areas. Where the customers are, what the terrain is like and the radio or cellular coverage; see AMI communications.
• Commercial data. Quality of the customer register and of the meter-customer-transformer association. If that information is poor, AMI will only make the disorder visible.
• Current losses and problems. The energy balance per circuit shows where AMI contributes most.
• Delivery points with their own requirements. Revenue-metering boundaries follow the applicable metering code; locate them separately.
• Existing systems. Which billing and operation systems will have to receive the data.

Phase 2: design

Here the architecture is decided. The key points:

• Architecture and layers, according to AMI architecture.
• Communication technology per area, with coverage measurements in the field.
• Open protocol. Specify DLMS/COSEM and avoid closed protocols.
• Security. Authentication, keys, encryption, role-based access and ISO/IEC 27001 certification, which many regulators require of the utility.
• Meter requirements. 15-minute recording, storage of the required minimum period, «last gasp» function and disconnect and reconnect where applicable.
• Interoperability with the data manager, where one exists, according to the mechanisms it defines.
• Benefit-cost analysis, as explained in cost-benefit analysis of an AMI project.

Phase 3: procurement and acceptance tests

The contract must turn the requirements into measurable tests. Without them, the requirements remain promises. It pays to require:

• Meter acceptance tests per batch: accuracy and functions. Meter calibration against a reference standard verifies the error.
• List of objects and codes that each meter model implements.
• Interoperability tests with the real central system.
• Security tests of the system and the links.
• Warranties and service levels for the communication network and the system.

Phase 4: pilot

The pilot is the complete project in small. It serves to check:

• the rate of readings received and the delivery time per area and per technology;
• remote disconnect and reconnect, with confirmation of the real relay state;
• the integration with billing and with the balance;
• customer service: questions, complaints and meter changes;
• the field processes: installation, correction and replacement.

The pilot must end with a report of lessons learned and with adjustments before moving to the next phase. Plans normally set a minimum pilot duration.

Phase 5: rollout in waves

The rollout is organized in phases. The first usually prioritizes the customers with the highest consumption, where the benefit per meter is greatest, and the following ones complete the installation of the meters defined in the plan. That logic translates in the field into waves:

1. The area is chosen by priority and by communication coverage.
2. Customers are notified before their meter is changed.
3. The meters are installed and commissioned, and each one is verified to communicate.
4. The fleet is reconciled: each installed meter must be associated with the correct customer and transformer.
5. The result of the wave is measured before moving to the next one.

Three mistakes are frequent in this phase: installing without verifying communication, not updating the customer register and not keeping the removed meter until complaints are resolved.

Phase 6: operation

The rollout ends when the system is operated as a routine. You have to organize:

• Monitoring of the communication network and of the rate of readings.
• Data management: validation, estimation and delivery; see metering data and analytics.
• Maintenance and replacement of meters and communication equipment.
• Vulnerability and key management.
• Periodic review of the plan and its results against what was planned.

Change management

The customer notices the project the day their meter is changed. For them to accept it:

• they must receive clear information before the installation;
• they must know who owns the meter and what rights they have to choose, where applicable;
• they must know how their personal data is handled, of which they are often the owner by law.

A technically correct project that generates distrust among customers loses a large part of its benefits.

Risks to track

To go further, see what smart metering is.

How Tiza Group can help

We support the technical side of communications, integration and security: architecture design, end-to-end testing and commissioning of the links. See communications engineering, SCADA and gateway integration and testing and commissioning of instrument transformers, the latter in Colombia, or elsewhere on request. Contact us and we will quote according to your project.

Related guides

• Smart metering (AMI): what it is and how it works
• AMI architecture: meter, concentrator and central system
• AMI communications: PLC, RF mesh and cellular
• OT cybersecurity gap assessment

References

• Local regulation and utility requirements: minimum content of the rollout plan, pilot, rollout phases, meter requirements, DLMS/COSEM protocol, ISO/IEC 27001 certification, customer information and personal data protection vary by market.

Frequently asked questions