Sensus, a Xylem brand, has been selected by Tacoma Public Utilities (TPU) as the technology provider for its advanced meter project. The publicly-owned utility offers power, water, rail, internet and cable service to downtown Tacoma and the surrounding area.
The modernization effort means new advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) to capture more data and provide timely service for more than 190,000 electric and 110,000 water customers in TPU’s service area.
“The Sensus solution gives us the latest technology to empower our customers to make better decisions about their energy and water use,” said TPU’s AMI Program Manager Andre Pedeferri. “The modernization effort will also help us sustain our operations well into the future.”
Tacoma’s advanced meter project will be comprised of Stratus IQ™ electricity meters, a variety of Sensus water meters including iPERL and ally and the FlexNet communication network. The FlexNet two-way system provides secure, reliable, real-time customer usage data from advanced meters and sensors to the utility over FCC-licensed spectrum. TPU will be able to quickly and accurately capture data remotely, improve billing accuracy and provide new services such as outage management and leak detection.
“Ultimately, our goal is to give customers more control over their energy and water usage,” said Pedeferri. “The reliability of the FlexNet system will allow us to expand our customer service offerings in an efficient and cost-effective way.”
