Case Study Exelon Energy Delivery AMR Pilot Project Jeff Evans - Exelon Michael Corbin - Elster Electricity, LLC                                                        

Agenda Mesh Network Overview EnergyAxis System Features EnergyAxis Applications Exelon Pilot Location Project Background Functional Test Plan Remote Operations Benefits Achieved Lessons Learned Conclusions

What is a Mesh Network? It’s a local area network (LAN) where nodes can participate as routers for other nodes in the network. For metering, this means the meter can also function as a Repeater or Collector.

A Mesh Network Assumes Obstacles Mesh networks were developed for battlefield conditions where units are moving. Every radio repeats every message it hears. This is chaotic and can lead to interference when units are fixed. Elster employs a ‘controlled’ mesh where the Collector meter sets up the meter/repeater network Algorithms emphasize reliability to each meter & allow paths to change in an organized fashion when needed. Network configuration & changes are transparent to the operator.

EnergyAxis® System Overview Entirely meter-based two-way communication system Proven 902-928 MHz unlicensed RF for local area networks (LAN) and public wide area networks (WAN) Repeating RF “controlled mesh” LAN architecture EnergyAxis Metering Automation Server (MAS) - data collection system Electricity solutions are available today for: Residential, Commercial & Industrial applications Future availability for Water and Gas

EnergyAxis System for Residential Applications Integrates 900 MHz communications into REX® and A3 ALPHA® electronic meters 900 MHz repeating RF LAN solution for single-phase residential and small commercial applications RF WANs Telephone MAS Communications Server

EnergyAxis Functionality Residential, Commercial & Industrial Public Networks (Telco / Cellular) 1-ph REX Meters EnergyAxis 900 MHz Public Networks (Telco / AMPS / Digital Cellular / Paging) Single or 3-phase ALPHAs Polyphase ALPHA meters with multiple WAN AMR options available today 3-ph A3 ALPHAs Polyphase A3 ALPHAs with repeating RF LAN communications now available for energy & demand metering REX meters for residential Small Commercial Sites, Strip Malls, Shopping Centers, Large Industrial Sites MAS Comm Server

A3 ALPHA Meter Collector Overview Collectors can be either single or polyphase meters Meets ANSI standards C12.18, 19 and 21 Consists of A3 ALPHA meter with 2 internal boards: WAN: Available with internal telephone outage modem; optional external CDMA or GSM cellular modem, other future RF options LAN: 900 MHz RF Internal LAN Controller Board (ILC) 1 Collector manages up to 1,024 meters, including auto-registration and re-registration processes Includes Lithium TOU battery to maintain system time, which is broadcasted to all AMR meters in the RF LAN Maintains current and optional TOU tier schedules for downloading to REX meters (up to 8)

A3 ALPHA Meter with 900 MHz LAN Board A3 Nodes provide polyphase AMR metering functions with LAN operation similar to REX Units can function as an RF network repeater and can reside on same Collector networks with REX meters Currently available in Forms 9S, 12S, 16S, 35S, 36S C&I functionality kWH energy and kW demand metering today with remote demand reset Future support in 2005 for TOU, LP, Reactive

REX Meter Key Features “Plug and Go” installation in the field - auto configures the network Supports flexible rates without costly equipment changes or site visits. Any meter can measure: Energy (Delivered, Received, Sum, or Net) TOU (4 Tier, 4 Season Energy) Demand (Total + 1 Tier or 2 Tiers) Real-Time / Critical Tier Pricing at any time 15, 30 or 60 minute Load Profiling

REX Meter More Key Features Tamper Detection Outage / blink counts Reverse energy always metered Meter failure statuses End-point Voltage data Utility-specific LAN ID in each meter allows overlapping service territories without operational conflicts Outage and Restoration data Optional service disconnect switch is internal to the REX meter with demand limiting capability

REX Meter Service Disconnect Switch Option Switch is inside the meter Switch is operated by a command from the MAS Communications Server The meter checks for load-side voltage before connecting service In the future, disconnect meters may also be programmed with a demand threshold Exceeding the programmed threshold will cause the switch to open for a programmed number of demand intervals, after which it will re-close.

Cost-Effective Solution for Targeted and Mass Deployments High-cost, Hard-to-Access, Dangerous, or High-Turnover Areas Mass Residential and Commercial Areas Apartments Student or Military Housing Industrial Campuses

System Features of Interest to Exelon ComEd and Elster Electricity partnership Suitable for system-wide or targeted deployments Advanced 900 MHz RF LAN communication network Full two-way communication system to all end meters Repeating meter architecture allows multiple paths to communicate into RF “holes” Collectors are meters - No dedicated units “up on a pole” Tamper / meter alarm detection Outage and restoration data End-point voltage data Optional 200 A. service disconnect internal to meter

Exelon’s Pilot Location Chicago South Yellow Stars indicate meters

AMR with Disconnect Meters Project Background Proof of Concept purpose was to validate that AMR can: Reduce outstanding collections and past-due amounts Reduce lost revenue from final accounts Improve workforce safety for Meter Reading & Field/Meter Services Improve meter reading efficiency Outage management, tamper detection, and load profiling were also evaluated. AMR meters deployed in two locations: AMR Meters AMR with Disconnect Meters Total Cicero 439 115 554 Chicago South 146 55 201 585 170 755

Functional Test Plan Overview Shop and field testing were used to validate: Communications Hardware Operating System Meter Reading Data Disconnect/Reconnect Functionality Interval Data Outage/Tamper Detection

Functional Test Plan Successes Integration of remote disconnect meters into collections process Tamper/Outage verification On-Demand reads Interval data

Remote Operations Revenue Management executed 191 remote disconnect and reconnect operations during the pilot: Remote Disconnects Remote Reconnects Total Cicero 61 50 111 Chicago South 41 39 80 102 89 191 102 remote disconnects occurred for 88 distinct customers. 14 customers had more than 1 remote disconnect. 13 customers remain de-energized today.

Benefits Achieved 83.3% of eligible REX D customers were cut at an average past due amount of $293.15. System average is 25.1% at $527.00 Meter reading rate for the 775 REX/REX D meters improved to 99.98%. Woodsman readings were used when manual readings could not be obtained. Remote meter reading improved manual operations.

Benefits Achieved Costs for Field/Meter Services were reduced by $4,400 resulting from using remote disconnect functionality. Meter reading costs would have been reduced from $505 to $0 by using Woodsman remote readings each month. Revenue lost as a result of unknown ownership was reduced by remote disconnects upon account final.

Benefits Achieved 0 safety incidents occurred with Meter Reading or Field/Meter Services personnel. 7 tampers and self-restorations were discovered via daily data review and resolved by Revenue Protection and Field/Meter Services. Incidents resulted in $275 in Rev Pro charges 2 reliability issues were discovered via daily data review and addressed by Operating: Failing Service Drop Incorrect weather-head connections

Lessons Learned Proper selection of customers ensures frequent use of remote disconnect functionality Installation plan – more structured to ensure communications to all meters Training/Communications to CSRs, installers and field personnel Verify medical status of account before installation

Conclusions The pilot achieved its goal of validating: Reduction in outstanding collectables/past-due amounts Reduction in lost revenue from finalled accounts Improvement in the safety of the Meter Reading and Field & Meter Services workforce Improvement in meter reading efficiency The remote disconnect meter functions as indicated. The system can also be used for tamper/theft detection and reliability reporting.