CHENEY -- The City Council authorized integrating Tantalus AMI meters to streamline the reading of electric and water usage after a successful six-month pilot program.
“This is a system where we can read our electric meters and our water meters and transmit that information back to the desktop,” Light Department Director Steve Marx said. “So, it’s remote read, new technology. We’re pretty excited about that back in the Light Department.”
The cost for the network will be $194,026, with additional maintenance and software upgrades for 2021.
The new equipment will cut “staffing time on reads and disconnects/reconnects, data analytics, real time billing, and customer data flow, along with customer service response times,” according to the resolution approved by the council.
The meters work by collecting data remotely via collection points placed throughout the city and funneling that information into a single place.
“Over the past three decades, Tantalus has consistently and creatively developed technology that enhances the safety, security, reliability and efficiency of public power and electric cooperative utilities across North America and the Caribbean Basin,” reads their mission statement. “Tantalus provides mission-critical smart grid solutions that include a market-leading edge computing platform, robust software applications and an advanced IoT communications network.”
The program will offer improved redundancy, according to Marx, because if a meter malfunctions, nearby readers will pick up the signal and continue to transmit the information.
“We like what we saw,” Councilman Paul Schmidt said. “We think it’s a great return on investment.”
Reporter Scott Davis can be reached at news@cheneyfreepress.com.
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