电子书：从PLC切换到AMI的5个客户好处

IntroductionIn today’s energy marketplace, the customer is more powerful thanever, striving to be educated and make informed decisions. Manybusinesses are responding accordingly by elevating the customerexperience (CX), which promotes trust and loyalty, ultimatelyimproving overall customer satisfaction.Even though you’re not in competition with others to deliverelectricity to your members, the customer experience still matters.When you make decisions that result in better operations, reducedcosts and safer conditions, members will take notice. However,the ever-savvy customer also wants some say in managing theirown budgets when it comes to energy use. Therefore, it’s essentialto enable them with the right insight, tools and knowledge to takecontrol.You and your members are part of the same community. So, whenyou take steps toward energy conservation and efficient operations,it affirms your commitment to sustainability—and that is good foreveryone.It’s a two-way street.How can a smart grid with AMI (Advanced MeteringInfrastructure) ensure the best member experiencepossible—while doing what’s best for your business?Read on. 1Reliability Reliability generatesconfidence.Let’s face it, your members really just want their lights to stayon. They look to you for consistent power delivery and quickrestoration after an outage. With Power Line Carrier (PLC)technology, you don’t realize that there’s an outage unless thephone rings or until your system actively polls the meters.Essentially, you have to request that the meter send you data.And with no proactive or autonomous meter data, insightsbecome reactive (based on consumer conditions)—and slow.Even after power is laboriously restored, a PLC system hastrouble communicating a full picture of current conditions untilpolling is complete—“Is it on? Is it on?” And it’s not just outagerestoration that’s impacted.AMI delivers near-real-time alarms, more granular data andimproved power quality. Moving from a wired PLC system to wireless AMI, especially a systememploying a point-to-multipoint communication network like FlexNet®,enables you to be proactive. This system provide access to real-timedata, allowing your utility to see every end point and send trucks directlyto where they’re needed. When there’s a large-scale fault, for instance,caused when falling trees knock down several power lines, the repaircrew may only fix one issue and then leave the area. The crew mayhave mistakenly believed that service farther down-line has also beenrestored. But if there was an offshoot power line that was also knockedout (nested outage), the crew may not have known about this additionalservice issue. Hence, the restoration message capability of an AMIsystem is critical.your members will see their power restoredWith the FlexNet®communication network, In an AMI system, when power is restored, the metersends a message to the utility saying, “Power is on.”These messages (or lack thereof) allow utilities to direct crews topinpointed problem areas. Moreover, a point-to-multipoint networkdoesn’t need the rerouting time that’s required of mesh systems toaccommodate meters that don’t have power.quicker after an outage.33% 4“With real-time dataprovided by the SensusAMI system, we couldstreamline the outagemanagement processand offer a superior levelof service to customers.The solution also freedup staff time and madeus more efficient acrossour operations by addingadvanced capabilities,such as remotedisconnect of meters.”5 Distribution automationDistribution automation (DA) has become an essential tool for quicklyidentifying and isolating grid faults. But a DA system is only as reliableas its communication with devices in the field. By adding DA to a low-latency point-to-multipoint network, you are now able to reroute powerand minimize the number of members affected by an outageBe more reliable•Significant reduction in the duration of outages•Proactive outage and restoration messages to members•Ability to identify momentary outages and addresswith vegetation management, preventing futurelarge-scale outages•Improved power quality with ability to monitorvoltage and adjust as needed (no blinkingappliances or damaged equipment) . Chad ForemanDirector of IT, ComancheElectric Cooperative Improved safety means members can rest assured.There are lots of reasons people have trouble sleeping at night—butconcerns about electrical safety shouldn’t be one of them.Unlikea PLC system, an AMI system can quickly alert the utility to apotentially dangerous situation. In some cases, the smart meter canaddress the problem immediately.For example, if there is a looseconnection between the meter and the socket, arcing can occur, whichcan create a potentially dangerous overheating situation.2Safety To combat hot sockets, the Sensus Stratus IQ™ meter is equippedwith a Temperature Auto Open function that detects abnormally hightemperatures and immediately shuts down the meter, alerting theutility in the process