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

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Response:
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 56
32.2 How many of the approximately 115,000 AMI meters to be installed would need
to be connected by Satellite WAN to the Head End System?
Based on a preliminary design completed in 2011, approximately 6,350 meters connected to 35
collectors would require satellite backhaul. It should be noted that third party cellular providers
have planned coverage enhancements in 2012 and 2013 that would provide backhaul for 15 of
these 35 collector locations servicing approximately 3,520 meters. If all of the planned
coverage enhancements are completed prior to the AMI rollout, satellite backhaul will be
required for only 20 collectors servicing approximately 2,830 customer meters.
Response:
32.2.1 Is this a similar proportion, based on Figure 4.1.3.a, of slightly over one
third (50 out of 136) of the collectors requiring Satellite WAN
connections?
Please note that the actual number of satellite collector locations identified in the preliminary
design based on Figure 4.1.3.a is 35. The 50 number references the cellular collectors needed.
Satellite connected collectors comprise approximately 26 percent of all collectors in the
preliminary design. In comparison, only 5.5 percent of the total meters are being backhauled by
these sites.
As noted in the response to BCUC IR1 Q32.2, planned cellular converge enhancements will
likely significantly decrease the number of satellite collectors and the approximate number of
customer meters served by these collectors. Realization of these planned enhancements by
third party providers would push the proportion of satellite collector sites down to 15 percent and
the total proportion of meters served by satellite to 3 percent.
Response:
32.2.2 Does the HES or MDMS system allow for manual and/or handheld-type
data collection and entry methods?
The MDMS has the capability to accept both manually and handheld-collected data.