Ravalli Electric to Take Metering Infrastructure to New Heights with Sensus

(Click to Tweet) – When the power goes out in the mountains of rural Montana, Joe Smith and the staff at Ravalli Electric Co-op (REC) can sometimes go for weeks without hearing about it. With an aging advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) system that creates challenges in communicating with the electricity meters in these remote locations, Smith’s hands are often tied.

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“Our current system is slow and unreliable, and the communication modules on our meters are systematically failing,” said Smith, Manager of Engineering for REC. “I can’t communicate with about 400 meters right now.”

With approximately 10,500 meters in the field and a limited staff, Smith and the REC team knew the status quo was no longer acceptable. That’s why they decided to undertake a complete replacement of the system, a rigorous process that led them to Sensus, a Xylem brand.

Smith assembled a selection team of six REC staff members to evaluate and analyze AMI solutions from multiple providers. After narrowing down the field and speaking with several co-ops to gain insight into their AMI deployments, the team’s choice became clear.

“Few co-ops take the hands-on approach we did,” said Smith. “We took a very analytical approach to determining which system would allow us to best serve our members. The robust functionality of the Sensus system gave us confidence that it was the right choice.”

In November 2017, Smith and his team initiated a complete replacement of REC’s AMI system with a Sensus AMI solution comprised of Stratus^® electricity meters and the FlexNet^® communication network. Smith anticipates that the point-to-multipoint functionality of the FlexNet system will provide greater flexibility and coverage across Montana’s mountainous topography, while the remote connect/disconnect feature of the Stratus meter will enable better customer service for seasonal users.

“As a vacation destination, we have a lot of members who don’t use their power for part of the year,” said Smith. “Being able to turn on and shut off those accounts seasonally will eliminate the need for our technicians to drive out to those remote areas, sometimes in hazardous weather conditions.”

Smith anticipates the full AMI replacement to be completed by the end of 2019, and he expects it to pay dividends in helping the co-op to foster better relationships with their members.

“Our members own the co-op and this system, so we need to frame everything in terms of how it benefits them,” said Smith. “Right now, when a member’s power goes out, we don’t know about it unless they call. With Sensus, they’ll get a notification within minutes of an outage that we know about it and that we’re on top of it. That kind of communication is invaluable.”

To learn more about the advanced capabilities and benefits of smart meters, visit the Smart Meter Resource Center.

About Sensus

Sensus helps a wide range of public service providers—from utilities to cities to industrial complexes and campuses—do more with their infrastructure to improve quality of life in their communities. We enable our customers to reach farther through the application of technology and data-driven insights that deliver efficiency and responsiveness. We partner with them to anticipate and respond to evolving business needs with innovation in sensing and communications technologies, data analytics and services. Learn more at sensus.com and follow @SensusGlobal on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.

About Xylem

Xylem (XYL) is a leading global water technology company committed to developing innovative technology solutions to the world’s water challenges. The Company’s products and services move, treat, analyze, monitor and return water to the environment in public utility, industrial, residential and commercial building services, and agricultural settings. With its October 2016 acquisition of Sensus, Xylem added smart metering, network technologies and advanced data analytics to its portfolio of solutions. The Company’s nearly 16,000 employees bring broad applications expertise with a strong focus on identifying comprehensive, sustainable solutions. Headquartered in Rye Brook, New York with 2015 revenue of $3.7 billion, Xylem does business in more than 150 countries through a number of market-leading product brands.

The name Xylem is derived from classical Greek and is the tissue that transports water in plants, highlighting the engineering efficiency of our water-centric business by linking it with the best water transportation of all—that which occurs in nature. For more information, please visit www.xyleminc.com.

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