Item 7- Staff Briefing: Advanced Metering Infrastructure — original pdf

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Advanced Metering Infrastructure What’s New and Next for Austin Energy’s AMI Network October 19, 2026 © Austin Energy William Kelly Distribution Process Manager Advanced Grid Technologies Item 7AMI @ Austin Energy History and Current State Network Optimization More than a Meter Visibility & Awareness During Outages Questions 2 History of Advanced Metering Infrastructure 1-Way AMR 2001 Austin Energy deploys ~100k one- way communicating Automated Meter Reading (AMR) meters 1-Way AMR 2-Way AMI 2006 Austin Energy transitions to deploying a blended one-way and two-way communicating network 2-Way Simple AMI 2015 Austin Energy sunsets one-way AMR technology, transitions to a full “simple” two-way communicating network – Advanced Metering Infrastructure 2-Way Advanced AMI 2019 Austin Energy completes its transition to a full “advanced” two-way communicating network TODAY Austin Energy operates one of the highest performing AMI networks in the country. • Network is radio frequency mesh • Managed service – Austin-based L+G program office maintains and operates the field network and the back-office control system • 10-year agreement: 2024-2034 • Performance-based contract • Industry leading service level agreement and performance Note: Meters purchased via a separate contract 590,000+ Electric Utility Meters 1,500+ AMI field network devices Program Enhancements Service Level Agreements & Key Performance Indicators Network centric performance measure: (5 "hop" average network) impacts all-around performance rather than read delivery Future Proof New network equipment is ready to support a next generation Internet Protocol (IP) Mesh based communication technology Redundancy Lesson learned from winter storms: build a redundant meter network with increased density offering tier-one, blue-sky-day performance and protection against mass-scale circuit outages Cost Reduction 10-year partnership provides a reduction in per read pricing, all while securing stricter performance measures and an enhanced, redundant, future-proof network 5 Network Optimization September 2025 — March 2026 • Doubled the density of and optimized the Advance Metering Infrastructure network • Upgraded 915 routers during the project Gateways Radio frequency mesh information hubs that act as the first – and last – point of data delivery between the utility and the field network Routers Network repeaters that relay data packets across the wireless mesh network between the meter and the gateway 57 205 Sept. 2025 March 2026 1273 Sept. 2025 1385 March 2026 More than a Meter AMI meters are health monitoring devices for the distribution system, capable of recording hundreds of alarms, events, flags and readings AMI Meters Provide • Real-time outage and restoration information • • • • • Two-way command capabilities • Remote service switch • On-demand reads • Remote meter reprogramming (over the air) Tampering alerts Power quality monitoring Instantaneous voltage readings Interval data collection 7 Beyond the Bill Austin Energy merges AMI data in a variety of operations and customer supporting functions Leveraging AMI Data in Grid Analytics • Reliability metrics calculation • Resiliency work prioritization • Bellwether metering / instantaneous voltage information • Asset loading / overloading analysis • Outage awareness and storm response 8 Internal Outage Awareness Tools Austin Energy is leveraging advanced metering data and grid analytics to enhance outage awareness and storm response activities Nested Outages Critical Water Infrastructure Using mass meter ping commands to identify nested outages — pockets of unrestored customers due to a secondary outage after primary outage restoration Using a storm-activated email alert and mapping solution to identify Austin Water’s critical infrastructure power status in near real time Medically Vulnerable Registry Identifying and mapping MVR customers affected by outages allows the Customer Assistance Program team to ensure MVR customers’ needs are a focus during storm response Piloting a Blinks Report Can we predict sustained outages before they occur? AMI Diagnostic Data Predictive Insights Crew Dispatched Sustained Outage Avoided VOLTAGE SAG MOMENTARY OUTAGE EXAMPLE VOLTAGE PROFILE SUSTAINED OUTAGE RISK ELEVATED AMI Meter detects a voltage sag or a momentary outage and logs it Analytics model identifies patterns and calculates outage risks that could lead to longer, costly outages Austin Energy crew dispatched to investigate and fix issue in the field Crew finds tree limbs encroaching on power line and trims tree to avoid a sustained outage Customer Driven. Community Focused. ©Austin Energy. All rights reserved. Austin Energy and the Austin Energy logo and combinations thereof are trademarks of Austin Energy, the electric department of the City of Austin, Texas. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.