Co-op completes switch to automated meters

Adams Electric ended a three-year switch to automated meters by activating in April 2009 meters for 9,600 residential accounts in York County. Meter readings were gathered electronically on April 30 for the first time for all of the co-op’s 27,000 residential accounts.

Automated meter reading (AMR) was first activated for residential accounts in upper Franklin and lower Cumberland counties in May 2007 followed by those in Adams County in late 2008.

An automated meter sends readings electronically over the power lines to an Adams Electric substation. The readings are then relayed to the co-op’s headquarters in Gettysburg and automatically recorded.

Adams Electric will save money through fewer property visits and less employee time spent gathering readings. Also, the co-op will be able to obtain more accurate readings and receive information on each account more quickly, which translates to better service to the members.
Members were not charged separately for the automated meters or the installations.

Members will continue to receive their bills at the same time of the month as they always have. In addition, the bill payment dates will remain roughly the same.

AMR eliminates the need for members to read their own meters and eliminates the need to levy a trip fee if a meter reading is not reported in a timely manner. Also gone is the need to estimate an electric bill when a member’s property is inaccessible or the member is out of town.

When fully developed, Adams Electric will be able to use AMR to more quickly and easily identify those areas where power has been restored following power interruptions. AMR can also help take the guesswork out of determining where a problem might be when outages occur.

When fully developed, the system will be able to track the number of interruptions in power at a property and monitor demand to ensure that the equipment serving an account is properly sized.

AMR is the first big step toward smart metering. Smart meters have the potential to help reduce energy costs during peak periods. They also promise to provide members with an indication of their daily electricity use to help them better understand the cost of energy.

Have questions about the AMR system? Learn more.