Electricity grid operation and planning related benefits of advanced metering infrastructure

The advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) is expected to provide an infrastructure to render the current smart metering functions effectively and efficiently, and also to enable the future AMI-smart grid related functions without the need to change-out the AMI system. The information collection and distribution among customers and utility companies enabled by AMI has advantages in various aspects including distribution automation (DA), service restoration and network condition monitoring. In this paper, the benefits achievable from a well planned AMI for electricity grid operations and planning are discussed.