AMI
Access Energy Cooperative employs a meter reading system called Automated Meter Information System (AMI), which not only allows meters to be read remotely from the Mt. Pleasant office and reduces meter reading costs, but also detects power outages.
Even though this system automates our reading and billing procedure, members are still be able to read their own meter.
The TWACS (two way automatic communication system) automatically reads our members meters every month from our Mt. Pleasant office. This not only makes our meter reading costs efficient, but also allows quick access to meter reading as needed. Each meter contains a small electronic unit that utilizes power line carrier technology to transmit the meter reading from the meter to the substation supplying your power. There, data is collected and relayed to our Mt. Pleasant office via telephone line to a computer that interfaces with our billing system.
Advantages to You
This system also offers us other advantages. Since it utilizes two-way communication, the meter not only talks to our Mt. Pleasant office, we are able to talk back to the meter. Having the ability to "talk" to the meter provides many opportunities for your cooperative.
One area of particular interest is in outage notification. During the unfortunate event of a large outage, when members call in to report their power out, the phone lines are normally very busy. The TWACS system allows us to be able to "ask" the meter if you have power. The meters that do not report back to our office identify the customers that are out of power. This quick system-wide identification system greatly improves our ability to dispatch crews to fix the problems. Once power is restored, we can "ask" meters to verify services that are back on. This is only one example of many ways this new system can be used to improve our service to our members and allow us to be more safe, reliable and efficient.