HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 5/29/2018 - Memorandum From Kevin Gertig Re: Electric Metering And Data Resolution For Time-Of-Day (Tod) RateUtilities
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700 Wood Street
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.221.6700
970.221.6619 – fax
970.224.6003 – TDD
utilities@fcgov.com
fcgov.com/utilities
M E M O R A N D U M
DATE: May 23, 2018
TO: Mayor and City Council
THROUGH: Darin Atteberry, City Manager
Jeff Mihelich, Deputy City Manager
FROM: Kevin Gertig, Utilities Executive Director
RE: Electric Metering and Data Resolution for Time-of-Day (TOD) Rate
BOTTOM LINE:
Utilities will maintain a manual read electric metering option under Time-of-Day (TOD) electric
rates effective on October 1, 2018. In order to accommodate TOD billing, the existing reduced
data resolution option must be eliminated and Utilities will begin exchanging approximately 325
residential electric meters in mid-July 2018. All electric meters that are configured on the two
existing non-standard metering options, known as Option 2 and Option 3, do not record and
obtain the required data resolution to support the TOD electric rates.
SUMMARY:
City council approved Ordinance No. 155, 2017, on November 21, 2017, in support of
implementing time-of-day (TOD) electric rates effective October 1, 2018 for residential
customers. In order to bill residential customers on a TOD rate, staff must replace about 325
reduced data resolution meters prior to October 2018 with meters that collect 15-minute interval
data.
The meters with a reduced data resolution compared to the standard AMI meter were installed as
alternatives for customers between 2012-2013 during the Advanced Meter Fort Collins (AMFC)
project deployment. Currently, there are 117 reduced-data-resolution meters (referred to as
Option 2) in the field, along with 208 manually read meters (referred to as Option 3), which also
have a reduced data resolution since the meters record cumulative energy consumption and are
only read once per month.
Utilities will be eliminating reduced data resolution meters entirely and providing one of two
options for these customers to choose between. The two options are:
DocuSign Envelope ID: 981B8CEB-F05E-4D5F-A9DE-F49CE47F1BF3
a standard advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) meter, or
a manually read meter without a radio where 15-minute interval data will be manually
collected by Utilities’ personnel once per month.
Utilities plans a robust, targeted communication outreach effort with the 325 impacted
customers, such as multiple letters and website awareness with updates, regarding their
respective electric metering options.
Fort Collins Utilities personnel will perform the necessary meter exchanges between July 15,
2018 and September 15, 2018 to ensure TOD billing for residential customers begins in
alignment with the TOD effective date of October 1, 2018.
BACKGROUND:
Fort Collins Utilities will transition all residential customers to a Time-of-Day (TOD) electric
rate in October. Since 2012, Utilities has offered three metering options to customers:
Standard advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) meter that records 15-minute interval
data (Option 1)
Reduced data resolution meter that supplies Utilities with one electric meter read per day
via the AMI network (Option 2)
Reduced data resolution meter that must be read manually via Utilities personnel and
provides one electric meter read per month (Option 3)
In order to bill residential customers on TOD rates, as supported by City Council in November
2017, Utilities can no longer provide the reduced data resolution option that communicates
through the AMI network, mainly due to how Utilities’ meter data management system (MDMS)
calculates billing determinants for TOD. Once TOD is implemented, Utilities can only offer:
the standard AMI meter, or
a manually read electric meter that does not communicate wirelessly through the AMI
network (incurs an additional monthly fee)
Both types of meters will record and provide 15-minute interval usage data for TOD billing
purposes. For the manually read meters, a Utilities employee will still have to visit these electric
meters monthly and download recorded electric usage for TOD billing purposes.
CC: Tim McCullough, Deputy Director, Utilities Light & Power
Lance Smith, Director, Utilities Finance
Lisa Rosintoski, Deputy Director, Utilities Customer Connections
Lori Clements, Senior Manager, Customer Support
Adam Bromley, Senior Manager, Electrical Engineering
Randy Reuscher, Utilities Rate Analyst
Lucas Mouttet, Manager, Customer Support
DocuSign Envelope ID: 981B8CEB-F05E-4D5F-A9DE-F49CE47F1BF3
Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) meters communicate back to the Utility via spread spectrum radio
frequency (RF) between 902-928 MHz. Each AMI meter also has a ZigBee radio installed to communicate to
customer owned equipment that operates in the 2.4 GHz frequency band similar to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Any
device that communicates via RF must have a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ID number. On Fort
Collins Utilities’ electric meters, the FCC ID is located on the meter nameplate as shown in the image below:
The manually read meter has no radio, therefore does not have an FCC ID number. An example of Fort Collins
Utilities manually read meter is shown below: