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An Introduction to AMR. 1-17-2004 file = amr101-1.ppt. AMR = A utomatic M eter R eading. What is it? Allows remote reading of utility electric, gas, and water meters Via: A network back to the utility A vehicle that reads the meters
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An Introduction to AMR 1-17-2004 file = amr101-1.ppt
AMR = Automatic Meter Reading • What is it? • Allows remote reading of utility electric, gas, and water meters • Via: • A network back to the utility • A vehicle that reads the meters • A handheld reader for “hard-to-read” meters on a manual route • Why do it? • More reliable and accurate than manual reads • Avoids estimated reads due to meter inaccessibility • Safety reasons (animals, indoor meters, bad neighborhoods) • Cheaper - much lower recurring labor costs • Estimating usage on a daily or hourly basis so that supply can be purchased in advance at wholesale rates
Lots of market left to penetrate • Only 10% of US meters read electronically • 237 million meters in U.S. read manually & awaiting AMR • Gas utilities only 17% penetration • 53 million meters in U.S. read manually & awaiting AMR • There is LOTS of room for new players
A Few AMR Modules RAMAR Retrofit Electric Module Itron Water ERT Neptune Water Pit Solution Itron Gas Module Itron Water Pit Solution Itron Handheld Reader
The Major Players • Itron • SchlumbergerSema • DCSI • Hunt • Badger • Invensys • AMCP/Elster • Neptune • RAMAR • Cannon • 51 others
Worldwide market shares AMR Vendors’ market share based on 2002 shipments AMR Vendors’ market share based on cumulative shipments through 2002 Source: Chartwell, Inc.
North American AMR units shipped by technology in 2002 Source: 2003 Scott Report on AMR Deployments
U.S. market share by year Source: 2003 Scott Report on AMR Deployments
U.S. AMR units shipped by utility type Blue = Estimated values Source: Chartwell, Inc.
Favored sales strategy • Start with a walk-by system • Handheld computer with a radio modem • Read most meters manually, hard-to-read meters with radio • Only a fraction of the meters are AMR equipped • Move to mobile • Uses a vehicle equipped with a radio modem • Reads all of the meters • Requires saturation (all meters are AMR equipped) • Move to a network • Requires addition of “head-end” sites connected to the billing center • Very few utilities have gotten to this stage