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

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

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. EnergyAxis® System Overview
Entirely meter-based two-way communication system
Proven 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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)

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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.

13. 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

14. 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

15. Exelon’s Pilot Location Chicago South
Yellow Stars indicate meters

16. 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

17. 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

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

19. 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.

20. Benefits Achieved
83.3% of eligible REX D customers were cut at an average past due amount of $
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.

21. 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.

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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.