By Satish Saini, HEXstream utilities industry specialist 

AMI data is often underutilized. 

AMI / smart-metering infrastructure is mostly limited to remote readings and billing (meter-to-cash) by utilities. Useful? For sure. But this limited scope leads to tremendous untapped data and many missed opportunities.

Untapped and siloed AMI data does not collaborate with other applications, inhibiting effective asset management and load-growth planning, limiting outage reporting and demand-response opportunities with customers, and slowing grid-modernization efforts. It also hurts  reliability reporting, slows restoration times and sours the customer experience. Lastly, untapped data causes utilities to miss ROI targets for their AMI investments.

So how do utilities capitalize on their AMI data?

They adopt a comprehensive and multi-dimensional AMI solution that tackles grid assets, outages and reliability and enhances the customer experience. They adopt an AMI solution that enables them to achieve grid modernization and energy-transition targets by engaging customers through demand-side management and energy-usage insight. When utilities do this properly, the benefits with AMI analytics for asset management and load planning are myriad, both for customers and the utilities that serve them.

However, one key prerequisite and foundation is the mapping between AMI customer-accounts data and electrical infrastructure, which can help in accurate, effective and efficient applications related to asset management, outage management and customer-information systems.

With relevant mapping, integration and data analytics, utilities can properly create capacity in the assets—like transformers and feeders—with effective load balancing, assets swapping and load-shifting techniques. This can further guide investment planning for upgrading grid infrastructure.

HEXstream’s AMI Analytics accelerator is such a solution, created by our team of SMEs who have deep technical knowledge combined with utility-specific experience and focus, which provides them greater insight into the problems energy-providers face and the solutions to enable them to succeed. 

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Click here to connect with us to learn how you can fully capitalize on your AMI data. And click here for the next blog post in this AMI Analytics series...a deep dive into how AMI Analytics empowers utilities and the customers they serve.