Electric Meters

Automated Metering Infrastructure (AMI)

Midwest Electric is installing new AMI meters throughout our system, for all members.

If we replaced your old electric meter with a new Advanced Meter Infrastructure (AMI) meter, you no longer need to read your electric meter. We will read your electric meter remotely around the 15th of each month. You do not have to read your electric meter. You may notice that your next electric bill has an unusually higher number of days. That is because we are now reading your meter around the 15th of the month. If you typically read your meter around the 1st of the month in the past, your next electric bill will include around 45 days of energy usage. This may help explain why your electric bill is higher than normal.

After this initial bill, your future electric bills will be 30 days each month, as we’ll read the meter around the 15th of each month.

The main benefits of AMI are:

• Remote meter readings
• System voltage readings and voltage control
• System blink data
• System outage information immediately
• Power restoration
• Load balancing
• Detailed daily and hourly kWh energy use data for individual members, thus helping identify high bill reasons and helping members control their individual energy use
• System problem areas and where we need to focus on system improvements

Please make note of the meter number for your records. You’ll notice the meter reading is different than your previous meter. Your bill will show the initial reading on your new meter; and the amount due will reflect the final usage up to the final reading of your old meter plus the new usage on your new meter. You’ll notice your new meter will blink – This is a normal process.

Your new AMI meter allows two-way communication between the meter and our office. It will provide more information on your electric use – such as detailed daily usage information and power consumption patterns – which could help in your efforts to better manage and lower your use. Remote meter readings also eliminate the need for estimated readings and help keep billings a more-even 30 days each month.

And it will provide us more information on the status of our electric system – such as power outages, “blinks,” system voltage, and more – which would lead to more reliable service. This also helps ensure that the transformer supplying your home is properly sized to accommodate all of your energy needs. And we’ll be able to obtain a meter reading within seconds, streamlining the process of transferring accounts when a member moves.

When the project is complete by 2012, our digital meters will contain chips that enable them to send kilowatt-hour use readings and other data to our office.

Our meters will go a step further and send and receive signals from us, opening up a world of possibilities.

“Automated meter reading has existed in America in one form or another since the mid-1980s,” said Paul Rogers, Midwest Electric manager of engineering and operations. “Initially it was simply a more efficient way to conduct monthly meter readings. Today, the collection of monthly meter reads is just the tip of the iceberg.

Faster, two-way systems will allow us to view meter reads once an hour and in some cases even more often. When teamed with other automated equipment at substations and on distribution lines, it evolves into an advanced meter infrastructure system.”

Once AMI systems are in place, a wide range of applications can become available, including electricity theft detection, outage management, remote disconnect and reconnect, and “blink” monitoring, among others.

An estimated 50 percent of electric co-ops have deployed AMI in some fashion–far and away tops in the electric utility industry. AMI is a key component of what’s called a “smart grid,” an evolving, “self-healing” transmission and distribution network that can track the flow of electricity with greater precision.

Midwest Electric has selected TUNet® (Tantalus Utility Network) for its Advanced Meter Infrastructure (AMI) network. Tantalus technology will support Midwest's plans for a fully automated metering solution. In addition to automated meter readings, the new system will lead to optimized power supply, better control over demand and streamlined operations.

TUNet provides extensive, cost-effective radio coverage throughout a largely rural service area, and serves as a single platform on which data collection, monitoring and control capabilities can be delivered anywhere on the electric network.

Initially, we plan to surgically deploy TUNet at areas of highest benefit like commercial and industrial accounts and low density residential on the fringes of our service area.

Another priority is to alleviate service interruptions caused by severe weather, which accounts for up to 400 outages of varying size each year. “Lightning and thunderstorms are a fact of life,” says Midwest Manager/CEO Rick Gerdeman. “With AMI, our operations personnel will be alerted automatically when an event occurs. We can instantly gauge the extent of an outage and gain full perspective on the situation. Visibility and in-field knowledge allows us to prioritize response and dispatch crews directly to critical areas, track restoration in real time, and more rapidly re-establish service.

“Data collection, reliability and accuracy will all improve with AMI,” adds Gerdeman. “This is a comprehensive upgrade to the way we manage the distribution network, one that gives us the tools we need to improve customer service and utility efficiency on every front.”

Small utilities face much the same business and operational challenges as large utilities, plus some truly unique ones. Extreme environmental conditions, low customer densities and long customer service drive times, coupled with restricted cash flow and resources all factor into the financial, technical and deployment priorities. Midwest has mapped out a clear path to a cost-effective AMI strategy that enables us to quickly realize a high level of automation, add functionality as needs arise, and deliver long term value to our members.

Meter Tampering

Meter tampering is both stealing and a crime. Since 1978, a revised Ohio law covering theft of utility service and tampering with utility equipment has been in effect.

The statute provides that a person does not have to be seen tampering with his/her meter to be held responsible for such action. Prior to the revision of the law, it was difficult to prosecute a person for meter tampering unless the action was witnessed.

In addition, in a prosecution for a user who is reconnecting a device that was disconnected by a utility, such activity is now considered prima facie evidence that the user intended to defraud the utility.

The law defines theft of utility service as a first-degree misdemeanor if the value of stolen electricity, plus any utility equipment repair, is under $150. It's a fourth-degree felony if the value is over $150, or if the offender was previously convicted of the charge.

Tampering carries similar penalties. Tampering is defined as "to interfere with, damage or bypass a utility meter, conduit or attachment with intent to impede the correct registration of a meter or proper function of a conduit or attachment."

Conviction can mean from six months in jail and a $1,000 fine to five years in jail and $2,500 fine. Meter tampering costs all of us. It costs the cooperative and it costs you. It is also dangerous.

If you witness someone tampering with their electric meter, contact your co-op office. Stealing electricity is a crime and anyone caught violating the law will be prosecuted.