July
2007
Your
Meter is Going High Tech
Automated
system will save money, provide better service
After
a couple of years of study and research, Walton EMC is making a big change
in the way we read your electric meter.
Electric
meters are reliable, simple devices that record the amount of electricity
you use and serve as the basis for figuring your bill.
Now,
a meter reader visits your meter every month and records the numbers displayed
on the dial. That reading is entered into a handheld computer and downloaded
to our main computer at the end of the day.
The
new automated meter reading (AMR) system, called TWACS, uses a digital meter
to send that same reading to us over Walton EMC’s network of power
lines. The meter reading integrates into our computer system seamlessly,
saving time, money and increasing accuracy.
But
instead of reading your meter once a month, the new system will take a reading
every day. That will prove handy if we ever need to help you solve an energy
use problem. Even though your meter is read every day, your bill will still
come at the same time as before.
Although
we won’t be coming to your home or business nearly as often, our technicians
will still perform routine inspections of the meters to look for safety hazards
and perform preventive maintenance.
But
the system can do more than just read meters.
“AMR
will help us during outages,” says WEMC Vice President of Engineering
and Operations Ron Marshall. “TWACS integrates with our present computer
outage management system to share data and help us allocate crews more efficiently.”
Besides
sharing information, dispatchers can poll meters to determine which ones
are still without power. If you have an outage, though, you’ll still
need to contact us. The meters can’t notify us themselves.
The
changeover will begin this fall. The first customer-owners to get new digital
meters are located in the central, north central and northeast parts of Walton
County, Barrow County and eastern Oconee County.
Watch waltonemc.com
for continuing updates.
AMR
FAQs
How
AMR Works
1. A
transponder inside each customer-owner's meter provides information about
consumption, demand and billing. Each meter has a unique bar code that allows
it to be identified by the system. The meter communicates with the equipment
at the substation through existing power lines.
2. At
the substation, equipment obtains information from the meters; that information
is sent from the substation to a computer at Walton EMC's headequarters
via telephone lines.
3. At
Walton EMC, a computer collects readings from the substation and imports
the information into the billing system.
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