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

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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 243
Since FortisBC has a significant population of electronic meters without an advanced feature
set, the system would not be considered a complete advanced metering system even at the
conclusion of replacement of all electro-mechanical meters.
Response:
105.2 Please provide the unit cost for a digital meter and for an advanced meter, as
currently in use and proposed by FortisBC. Please identify all the cost
differences between [1] replacing an existing electro-mechanical meter with a
new digital meter, and [2] replacing an existing meter with a new advanced
meter.
Please see the table below which provides the unit cost for digital and electro-mechanical
meters currently in use by FortisBC. Due to contractual sensitivities, the unit cost of the
proposed AMI meter has been filed with the Commission in confidence.
Meter Type Unit Cost
Single phase electromechanical meter $36.84
Single phase digital meter $30.11
The difference in cost between replacing one meter type with another is the cost of the meter
itself.
105.3 Please provide a new phased implementation scenario, and compare it to the
FortisBC AMI solution as detailed in Tab 7. For the phased implementation
scenario, assume:
• replacement of the existing meters with advanced meters would start in
Q3 of 2013 using FortisBC’s existing process for meter replacement
(minimal incremental capital and operations costs);
• the HES, MDMS, telcom and all other pieces of the proposed AMI project
are installed at appropriate timing to be working together by the time the
existing meters are replaced with advanced meters (deferred capital);
• new meters on the distribution feeders will provide the benefits of theft
detection, and;