Warren C. Liebold Director, Metering/Conservation New York City Environmental Protection United States

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1 Warren C. Liebold Director, Metering/Conservation New York City Environmental Protection United States

2 Hopefully, AMI Will Transform How you view value in your utility How you collect and share field data The water meter industry How CSR s and Inspectors are trained How your CSR s do their work Your relationship with your customers

3 Background 830,000 accounts, 8 million population, 790 km 2 4 ML/d average water use (Down 30% since 1990) Original residential metering Water/sewer rates increase from $0.72/m 3 (1990) to $1.20/m 3 (2000) to $2.72/m 3 (2010) Meter reading out sourced to electric utility (2000) Began using inbound telephone AMI for 2,000 large customers early 00 s Pilots of two mobile AMR technologies

4 Citywide System RFP May 2007: Open to all but weighted to fixed network Using citywide wireless system (NYCWin) for 315 rooftop locations for AMI receivers Narrowed to two finalists: June 2007 Field test of both systems: July September 2007 Contract awarded: May 2008 Receiver installations begin: August 2008 Transmitter installations/meter replacements begin: February 2009 January 2011: 570,000 units installed (70% complete)

5 Not just meter reading TRANSFORMING UTILITY VALUE

6 Business Case Issues Is the Business Case primarily about reading costs or cash flow from monthly reading? What is improved customer service worth? What is moving from 15% estimated bills to 2% or less worth? Close to real-time reads? What is the organization s improved credibility worth with respect to collections? 20-30% correspondence/dispute reduction projected with associated head count attrition

7 The Project and the Goal The project itself is a major opportunity for change In this game your IT shop is your goalie

8 Information sharing is key TRANSFORM FIELD OPERATIONS

9 You re Going Into the Basement Anyway Use the opportunity to collect property information Service line size, location and material Electrical grounding? Backflow preventer issues? Theft of service? GPS of outdoor pits? Change of occupancy? Considering bringing meter settings up to current spec

10 Lessons from the Pilot Handheld software mostly manual input Drop-down menus with many items we didn t need No error checking 5-7% data input error rate among DEP staff Contractors likely to have higher error rate

11 Automate Field Operations Manual data input maximizes input errors Need to link Installation Database with signals from installed AMI transmitters to speed approval of work Clearly characterize installation errors so people learn

12 MITS DEP and partners develop software Meters have bar codes providing all data required for meter set up Minimize time and amount of input required to program Contractors use web application to download the day s work and distribute to handheld computers customer and existing meter information Data uploaded at end of day to AMI Database (Transmittermeter information) and DEP (Transmitter, replacement information) DEP account staff performing meter change outs have prioritized work information before them 1% average field error rate

13 Reliability and Resolution THE WATER METER INDUSTRY

14 Meter Register Observations Is data ready for web presentment? 175,000 AMI transmitters installed by February 2010 as we planned web presentment 1,450 (0.8%) meters with sporadic read problems: Errant (very high) single read Failure to receive read (No Read for 48 hours+ within 30 days) Need to recognize and filter for web viewing

15 Register Reliability Issues 35% of sporadic read problems traced to meter register Testing finds % register error rate What price to avoid a few missed reads? With 850,000 meters about 1,200 missed reads per day

16 Meter Industry Evolution? One manufacturer s registers: Remote read has 5 CF (150 liters) resolution Unacceptable for several reads a day or more? What s acceptable for leak and backflow detection? ASCII protocol resolution down to one or two decimal places Pulse meter comeback? Dual output?

17 A new, more complicated world? TRANSITION FOR UTILITY STAFF

18 Changes for CSR s Before AMI Four reads a year maybe Questions about the source of excess use problems eclipsed by time and lack of data Correcting for estimated reads After AMI Between four and 24 reads a day, reliably Enough data to educate customers or for them to debate Troubleshooting high and low use cases Holding customers accountable with data

19 A Test for CSR s and Inspectors Do they really understand how meters work? Do they really know enough about water use? What affect has only four reads a year and only 85% of them being actual had on staff? How will they react to four or 24 reads a day? Everyone needs retraining to varying degrees

20 Transforming Staff More data presents opportunity and challenge Better understanding of water use and meter operation Training upgrades Customer education: Leaking toilets the next big thing? Customer accountability

21 DEP AMR Reads & Inspections New York City (NYC) Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Bureau of Customer Services New York, NY December 2010

22 Information is power? CUSTOMER TRANSFORMATION

23 Web Presentment

24 Consumption Data Enough information to create a conservation response? Redefine price elasticity? Enable sophisticated rates Building benchmarking Hold plumbers accountable Early leak warnings for customers

25 Customer Leak Alarms THERE MAY BE AN APP FOR THAT

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27 Thank You