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)
17.0 Reference: Project Need
Response:
Information Request (IR) No. 1
Exhibit B-1, Tab 3.0, Section 3.2.5
Customer Benefits – Automated Outage Notification
Submission Date:
October 5, 2012
Page 32
“The AMI system will provide FortisBC with visibility down to the point of delivery at the
customer’s meter. This capability will provide detailed power outage information,
including the time duration of the outage and the number and location of customers
affected by an outage.” [Ref: B-1, p. 38]
17.1 Please explain if customers have the option of signing up for automated e-mail
notification of an outage of a specific meter.
At this time, FortisBC has not included in the project cost the design to include an email
notification system that will advise a customer of an outage for a specific meter. This is a
customer benefit that will be considered for implementation in the future. FortisBC intends to
allow customers to select the method (if any) by which they wish to be notified of a power
outage, including automated e-mail and Short Message Service (text message) notifications.
The immediate benefit of Automated Outage Notification is intended to inform FortisBC of the
duration of outages, the number and location of outages. This will also aid in identifying specific
meters that are still out before a crew leaves an area.
18.0 Reference: Project Need
Exhibit No. B-1, Tab 3.0, Section 3.2.5, pp. 31-32
Future Conservation Rate Structures
Meter Data Collection for TOU/CPP
The New Zealand Electricity Commission (now Electricity Authority) Guidelines on
Advanced Metering Infrastructure Version 2.0 page 3 states:
“ The Commission’s policy is that the following should be the minimum requirements for
AMI systems established in New Zealand (NZ):
(a) one metrology element complying with relevant NZ metering standards for the load
served;
(b) one master accumulation (MA) register for all units consumed on site which is never
reset and is read as part of a meter reading sequence;