20060124_1448.pdf

DECISION MEMORANDUM
TO:COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER
CO MMISSI 0 NER SMITH
COMMISSIONER HANSEN
COMMISSION SECRETARY
COMMISSION STAFF
LEGAL
FROM:DONOV AN E. WALKER
DATE:JANUARY 20, 2006
SUBJECT:REVIEW OF IDAHO POWER'S PHASE ONE AMR IMPLEMENT A TION
STATUS REPORT; CASE NO. IPC-06-
On December 30, 2005 , Idaho Power Company (Company, Idaho Power) filed its
Phase One AMR Implementation Status Report (Report), as required by Order No. 29362, Case
No. IPC-02-12. The Commission directed Idaho Power to collaboratively develop and submit
a Phase One Advanced Meter Reading (AMR) Implementation Plan to replace current residential
meters with advanced meters in selected service areas by December 2003. Id. The Company
was also directed to complete Phase One AMR installation by December 31 , 2004, and file an
AMR Phase One implementation status report by the end of 2005. Id. This filing is meant to
comply with the directives of Order No. 29362. Staff recommends issuing a notice of the
Company s filing with a 90-day comment period under Modified Procedure.
THE REPORT
According to the Executive Summary of the Report the Phase One AMR Project
consisted of the implementation and evaluation of AMR technology for approximately 23 500
customers in the Company s Emmett and McCall operating areas. In addition to the AMR
technology and infrastructure that included the meters, substation technology, and AMR
software, the Company installed a Meter Data Management System, which is required for
validating the data and providing the data for billing purposes, and in an Internet-based data
presentment software system, which makes usage data available to customers via the Company
web site. Idaho Power offered two programs: time-variant pricing and A/C cool credit program
in the Emmett area during the summer of2005.
DECISION MEMORANDUM
According to the Report the Project included the installation of three separate but
related systems, as no single system or vendor was able to provide all the functionality to meet
the objective of the Project. This required Idaho Power to evaluate multiple vendors and build
the necessary interfaces between systems to meet the functionality requirements. The systems
installed are: (1) Two-Way Automated Communication System (TWACS) AMR Power Line
Carrier System, (2) Itron EE Meter Data Management System, and (3) Nexus Energy Software.
The TW ACS AMR system, consisting of software and physical equipment in the
field, is the meter data collection system. TW ACS uses two-way communications via power line
carrier technology to retrieve meter-reading data. The TW ACS system is a multi-tiered
technology that uses specific TW ACS meter modules, substation equipment, a communication
network, and software to operate the system. The Itron EE Meter Data Management System was
implemented in order to provide the Validating, Editing, and Estimating (VEE) function for the
hourly interval consumption data retrieved by TW ACS and converting this interval data into
billing data for time-variant pricing programs. The TW ACS system is not designed to provide
these functions. Nexus Energy Software is an Internet-based software system used for data
presentment in which customers can access their AMR hourly energy use data through a web
site. The total projected Phase One Project cost is $6 859,424.
The Report provides the Project scope as well as an assessment of: the three installed
systems; customer feedback on AMR; time-variant pricing; TW ACS load control functionality;
other AMR-enhanced features; and Project costs and benefits. The Report also provides the
Company s conclusions or "lessons learned" during the course of the Project as well as an
analysis of future AMR deployments and the Company s proposed "next steps.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Company s filing be processed by Modified Procedure
with a review and comment period of 90 days.
COMMISSION DECISION
Does the Commission wish to process the Company s filing by Modified Procedure
with a 90-day comment period? Does the Commission wish to employ any other procedure for
processing the Company s filing?~c;qpr
ONOV AN E. WALKER
DECISION MEMORANDUM