Building a business case for next-generation AMI

Advanced metering infrastructure, or AMI, is considered to be a key enabler for the global energy transition, enabling future services, optimising grid visibility and optimising grid investment.

So what does the next generation of AMI look like?

John Doyle, Marketing Executive responsible for Itron Outcomes portfolio in EMEA, answered this question in an Itron Inspire EMEA session dedicated to the topic.

Doyle mapped out the key challenges to building a case to move beyond meter-to-cash, as well as the importance of overcoming these challenges.

Progressive utility business models will result in better management of water and energy resources. “We believe that how we manage water and energy will define this century,” emphasised Doyle.

Doyle highlighted three key challenges confronting utilities:

Energy transition – this includes new challenges for utilities to incorporate significant amounts of new renewables and distributed energy resources (DERs) onto the grid, controlling the resulting grid imbalances, digitalising third parties to integrate DERs and enabling demand-side participation to manage the increase of peak demand.

Investment planning and execution – a challenge for utilities to optimise and ease investments.

Security of supply and automation – centered around five sub-elements, including grid modernisation and meter deployments, grid stability, resilience, data management, and cybersecurity.

Reforming business models

Building the case to move beyond meter-to-cash is centered around increasing resilience, stated Doyle. This can be done by hardening the grid against storms and extreme weather as well as increasing intelligence, automation and control with better insights. Thus, action can be directed to effectively incorporate EVs and charging to decarbonise, as well as implement effective demand response programmes.

“It’s widely recognised that network-enabled data collection is more efficient and cost-effective than manual walk-by drive-by systems – it takes smart grid investments to the next level,” said Doyle.

“As the utility industry moves to reformed business models, edge computing and distributed intelligence will be a key component to the data framework. Utilities will need to provide services to customers that are very different to the current consumption-based rate plans, such as multi-year, grid support or reliability plans.

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“There are infinite possibilities presented by using edge computing that can support the future direction of the utility business model.”

When considering the next wave of AMI deployments, Doyle suggests the business case needs to include more progressive elements, namely moving from a business model focused on connecting customers, reinforcing networks, and outage management to “actively managing and coordinating distributed resources, creating a market for customers to prioritize, optimise, compensate, store and inject energy into the grid and extend visibility into customer side assets”.

Doyle delved into real-world business case examples, elaborating on the benefit-cost ratio of layering on additional applications and use cases afforded by distributed intelligence capabilities.

This Itron Inspire EMEA session as well as all other sessions are available on demand.