Itron Inc. has announced a contract with MidAmerican Energy Company and Rocky Mountain Power for the turnkey deployment of nearly 1.2 million Centron solid-state, high-accuracy electricity meters with Itron’s embedded automated meter reading (AMR) technology and nearly 700,000 Gas AMR endpoints.
Beginning in August, Rocky Mountain Power will be replacing traditional electromechanical meters with Itron’s Centron solid-state electricity meters in Utah. MidAmerican will deploy Itron’s Centron solid-state meters and Itron’s gas AMR modules on meters in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and South Dakota. By using Itron’s Mobile Collection System with multi-vendor-reading-system software, MidAmerican will reduce the cost to read meters, increase accuracy of meter reads, streamline off-cycle reads and maintain tighter security for homeowners and businesses.
Centron digital meters are more accurate than electromechanical meters and difficult to tamper with. Itron’s meters will be automatically read via radio signal, thereby eliminating manual data entry errors and greatly reducing or eliminating estimated and inaccurate bills. In addition to the normal operational benefits, calls to the customer call center are also expected to be reduced with the deployment.
“Itron was our partner of choice for this project because they were able to offer us a completely integrated turnkey system and supply all of the necessary components and services,” said Greg Abel, president of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company. “Their technology allows our operating companies to standardize on a common platform, and Itron’s proven technology will reduce our operating costs. Customer satisfaction is a priority for the employees of our companies — something we will enhance with this deployment.”
Philip Mezey, senior vice president and COO for Itron North America, said the flexibility of Itron’s AMR architecture enables MidAmerican Energy Company and Rocky Mountain Power to reap immediate benefits today, while providing a migration path in the future should its data collection needs change.
