Technical and operation considerations in using Smart Metering for outage management

Smart metering via an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) has been a hot trend in the utility industry the last five years in response to EPACT and promises of the AMI technologies to enable enhanced customer services and greater energy efficiencies. According to informal surveys at automated meter reading association (AMRA), utilities consider the use of AMI to improve outage management and service reliability the highest priority behind the meter to bill process. However, many utilities have experienced negative business impacts after they integrated AMI and outage management system (OMS) due to deficiencies of AMI, OMS, data, and/or integrated business processes. This paper discusses the technical and operational considerations necessary to make the AMI-OMS integration successful.