FortisBC Inc. (FortisBC) Application for a Certificate of Public ...

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
FortisBC Inc. (FortisBC or the Company)
Application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity
for the Advanced Metering Infrastructure Project
Response to British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC or the Commission)
Information Request (IR) No. 1
Submission Date:
October 5, 2012
Page 121
meters. They will be redeployed throughout the system depending on which feeders are
being analysed.
• 50 portable meters at a unit cost of $1,000. These meters are designed for easy
deployment and redeployment along targeted areas of a feeder to identify a selection of
premises where energy theft is indicated.
Response:
54.2 Please expand on the theft analytics that FortisBC will use to analyze the
measurement data captured from the new distribution system and advanced
meters.
Beginning in 2014 FortisBC will use the new data from AMI to identify potential theft sites as
outlined in Section 5.3 of the Application. Tamper flag reports, combined with the improved
data quality and on-demand meter reading available from AMI, will be used to identify theft as
described in Tab 5.0, pages 87-88 of the Application. In addition, energy balancing as
described in Tab 5.0, pages 88-89 of the Application, will be utilized. Data from AMI will be
analysed manually using Excel and existing statistical programs in conjunction with SCADA
applications.
Response:
54.3 Please provide the amount included in the project financial analysis for the
incremental operations and maintenance increase required due to theft detection
analysis and in-field investigation. Please identify where the cost of the theft
analytics software and process are included in the project financial analysis.
The project financial analysis includes as part of the New O&M identified on Line 46 of the
Gross AMI spreadsheet included in Exhibit B-3 an increase of $118,000 in 2014 for the
provision of one data analyst to identify potential theft sites from the additional consumption
data by AMI meters. Beginning in 2015 the budget includes an additional increase of $123,000
for a Power Line Technician to support existing staff in the deployment of feeder and
transformer meters. All AMI software is included in Project Capital on Line 27 of the Gross AMI
spreadsheet included in Exhibit B-3.