Is it just me or is Duke Energy's smart meter rollout in the Carolinas creating more billing problems than it's solving? I've got five different clients this quarter with AMI-related billing errors - wrong rate schedules, phantom demand charges, and interval data that doesn't match actual facility operations. The old electromechanical meters weren't perfect, but at least the errors were consistent and predictable. These Itron OpenWay meters seem to have a new surprise every month.
Duke Energy AMI causing more problems than it solves?
Derek, I'm seeing similar issues with Georgia Power's AMI system. The problem seems to be that the utilities rushed the deployment without adequate testing of their back-end billing integration. The meters collect good data, but somewhere between the meter and the bill, things get corrupted or misprocessed. Had a manufacturing client charged $28,000 for demand that occurred during a scheduled maintenance shutdown when all equipment was off.
Dominion Energy here in Virginia has had fewer problems, but they took a much slower approach to their AMI rollout. They've been testing and refining their systems for years before widespread deployment. Duke seems to have gone for speed over quality. The technology is sound, but the implementation has been sloppy. I've had better luck working with Duke's AMI support team rather than regular customer service for resolving these issues.
Phil, good point about going through AMI support. Regular customer service reps don't understand the technical aspects of smart meter data collection and processing. The AMI team at least knows the difference between a meter reading and interval data validation error. Still frustrating that we need specialized contacts just to get basic billing issues resolved. The old meter readers may not have been high-tech, but they understood how the system worked.
The irony is that smart meters were supposed to reduce billing errors and improve customer service. Instead, we've got more complex failure modes and longer resolution times. At least when a mechanical meter failed, it was obvious - the register stopped turning or the glass was cracked. These smart meters can fail in subtle ways that don't get caught for months. Progress isn't always improvement.
Derek, give it time. Dominion's AMI system had similar growing pains three years ago, but they've worked out most of the bugs now. The key is having utilities that are willing to invest in proper testing and system integration rather than rushing to meet regulatory deadlines. Duke will get there eventually, but it's painful for auditors and customers in the meantime.