CPS Energy here in San Antonio is halfway through their smart meter deployment and it's been surprisingly smooth. I've got about 20 commercial clients who've had their old GE I-210 mechanical meters replaced with Landis+Gyr E650 smart meters over the past year. Unlike horror stories from other utilities, I haven't seen any major billing anomalies or system integration problems. Bills are consistently within 5% of historical usage patterns adjusted for weather. CPS seems to have learned from other utilities' mistakes. Anyone know what they're doing differently?
CPS Energy AMI rollout going smoothly - what are they doing right?
Angela, that's refreshing to hear. Georgia Power's rollout was pretty smooth too, but we heard nightmare stories from other utilities. I think the key is extensive pilot testing before full deployment. GP spent two years testing their AMI system with about 5,000 customers before rolling it out citywide. They identified and fixed most billing system bugs during the pilot phase. Did CPS do similar pilot testing before their full rollout?
Rachel, yes exactly! CPS ran pilot programs in three different areas of town for almost 18 months before the full deployment. They also hired an independent consulting firm to audit their billing system integration before going live. The consultants identified several potential issues with rate schedule programming and demand calculation algorithms. CPS fixed these problems during the pilot phase rather than discovering them after installing 500,000 meters. It's amazing what proper planning and testing can accomplish.
The other thing CPS did right was customer communication. They sent detailed letters explaining the meter change process, what to expect on bills, and how to access the new online usage portal. They also held community meetings in different neighborhoods to address concerns. Compare that to utilities that just show up and swap meters with minimal notice. Good communication prevents a lot of customer complaints and billing disputes down the road.