Upgrading 19,500 Water and Electric Meters with an AMI System
The town of Clayton, North Carolina upgraded 19,5000 commercial and residential electric and water meters with the Sensus Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system for streamlined and precise utility management.
Background
In 2017, the Town of Clayton, North Carolina, determined that re-read and read failure incident rates due to the infrastructure’s age had reached unacceptable levels—for the sake of both customer billing accuracy and staffing resources. The town began reviewing its options for a comprehensive metering system upgrade.
Between July 2018 and May 2019, the town opened a bid process for a new water and electric metering system.
Challenge
The town’s metering system, comprising radio-read meters, was nearing the end of its operational life. Furthermore, the town was experiencing an increase in failures which resulted in a larger-than-expected manual read process.
Project Scope
Ferguson Waterworks was selected as a key supplier for this initiative, and our Meter & Automation Group was able to create a comprehensive Advanced Metering Infrastructure solution using Sensus products.
Sensus offered the town the best network coverage with minimal infrastructure required to install. The new system can scale alongside the town’s growth without the need for additional network infrastructure. Sensus’s licensed FCC frequency eliminates interference and maintains a strong connection, ensuring more accurate data, enhanced customer service, and operational efficiencies for the town’s utilities.
Products Utilized
– Sensus Stratus IQ+™ electric meters
– Sensus accuSTREAM™ water meters
– Sensus M400 Series collectors
– Sensus RNI and Sensus Analytics MDM
Method
The town upgraded 7,500 electric meters to the Sensus Stratus IQ+ and 12,000 water meters to the Sensus accuSTREAM. Four Sensus M400 collectors were implemented for complete service area coverage.
The town’s installation rollout coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when an above-average number of Clayton residents were working from home and couldn’t accommodate lengthy service disruptions.
Deployment was completed in two phases—water first, then electric—to minimize the impact on the residents. This rollout required careful attention to delivery dates, ensuring that all phase-specific products were in hand and ready to deploy on the proper dates. Our Meter & Automation Group worked closely with the town and the installation contractor to coordinate supply appropriately.
Solution
The town chose to partner with Ferguson Waterworks because of our close relationship with Sensus, a national leader in metering solutions. Our Meter & Automation experts were able to recommend specific Sensus products that met the town’s requirements and drove efficiencies to reduce operational costs and enhance billing accuracy for residents and business.
Product Advantages
– High-end network coverage with minimal infrastructure
– Multi-utility metering capabilities
– Licensed FCC frequency eliminates interference and maintains a reliable connection to the endpoints
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