Worth stating plainly because it changes the whole method.
On a mechanical meter, the printed reads were the billing determinant. Prior read, present read, difference times multiplier equals consumption. Auditing the read was auditing the bill.
On an AMI account that is no longer true. The billing determinant is the interval record. The consumption figure comes from summing intervals, and the printed reads are a derived presentation of that. Several utilities now say so directly on the statement, in small print, noting that the reads shown are illustrative.
The practical consequences.
Read difference times multiplier will not tie exactly to the printed consumption, and that is not an error. I routinely see a few kilowatt-hours of difference from rounding in the presentation layer. Chasing it wastes time.
Billed demand is the maximum integrated interval within the cycle, and you cannot see it or verify it from the statement at all. You can see the number. You cannot see how it was arrived at, what interval length was used, or whether a partial interval at the cycle boundary was included.
Which means on an AMI account, the interval data is not a nice-to-have for load analysis. It is the source document. If you are not requesting it, you are auditing the summary rather than the record.
On a mechanical meter, the printed reads were the billing determinant. Prior read, present read, difference times multiplier equals consumption. Auditing the read was auditing the bill.
On an AMI account that is no longer true. The billing determinant is the interval record. The consumption figure comes from summing intervals, and the printed reads are a derived presentation of that. Several utilities now say so directly on the statement, in small print, noting that the reads shown are illustrative.
The practical consequences.
Read difference times multiplier will not tie exactly to the printed consumption, and that is not an error. I routinely see a few kilowatt-hours of difference from rounding in the presentation layer. Chasing it wastes time.
Billed demand is the maximum integrated interval within the cycle, and you cannot see it or verify it from the statement at all. You can see the number. You cannot see how it was arrived at, what interval length was used, or whether a partial interval at the cycle boundary was included.
Which means on an AMI account, the interval data is not a nice-to-have for load analysis. It is the source document. If you are not requesting it, you are auditing the summary rather than the record.