Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)

IEE supports the AMI business processes as follows:

• The import, validation, and estimation of high volumes of interval and register readings data on a daily basis.

• The brokering and logging of meter commands from within IEE and external systems down to the appropriate AMI head end. These commands include remote reading requests, remote connect and disconnect requests, and remote meter communication tests.

• The calculation and export of billing determinants from interval data for high volumes of invoice requests each day.

• The calculation of net metering in residential and small commercial implementations.

• High-volume export of readings/consumption data from IEE to an external system either for customer presentment or for interval billing on the CIS system.

More specifically, IEE MDM is responsible for the following functions in an AMI environment:

• Collect, store, and distribute all meter data (load profile and register) and meter events from multiple AMI head end systems.

• Provide storage and the user interface for business information (account and customer information) for the meter.

• (Optional) Drive data collection schedules.

• Quality assurance of interval readings data (through validation, estimation, and editing processes as well as gap fill interrogation).

• Initiate interrogations in response to both reading cycle interrogation requirements and user-requested on-demand reads.

• Direct meter data as requested to multiple external or upstream systems.

• Provide data analysis functions.

• Provide high-volume data export.

AMI collection engines are responsible for the following functions:

• Respond to IEE AMI requests for data.

• Support Meter Data Management data-driven schedules (reads for sets of meters).

• Support AMI interactive reads of individual meters for troubleshooting purposes.

• Support AMI requests for remote disconnect/reconnect of meters.

• In some cases, to push meter readings to IEE MDM based on a reading schedule maintained either in the meters themselves or in the AMI head end system.

The billing system is responsible for the following:

• Owning and maintaining the billing cycle schedules and assignments of accounts / service points to those schedules.

• Requesting billing determinant calculations from IEE MDM.

• Storing and maintaining calculated billing determinants.

• Applying commercial validation to calculated billing determinants.