Optimization of Transmission Schemes in Energy-Constrained Wireless Sensor Ne...
Ams Oncor March 2010
1. What is AMS?
An Overview of Oncor’s Advanced
Metering System (AMS)
December 2011
Oncor Electric Delivery
2. Document Version Control Statement
This document, “What is AMS?” is maintained electronically on SharePoint. When in printed
form or downloaded, this document is uncontrolled. It is the user’s responsibility to verify that
this copy is the latest version.
The current version is located on the Knowledge Management Center for Smart Texas:
http://oncorportal.tu.com:8972/sites/Technology/KM/comm/presentations/Pages/default.aspx
.
This presentation is the first in a series of presentations about AMS components, including
smart meters, routers and collectors, networks, and systems.
Oncor Electric Delivery CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 2
3. AMS Deployment Profile
Advanced meters are being installed by geographic
region over a four-year period:
Up to 3.2 million meters by 2012
54,000 square miles of territory
122 REPs
Average installation rate is about
75,000 meters per month
More than 2.2 million AMS meters
installed as of November 2011
Oncor Electric Delivery CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 3
4. Smart Texas Overview
Smart Texas is Oncor’s initiative to transform Texas’s electric
transmission and distribution network into the most technologically
advanced grid in the nation by 2012.
Smart Grid AMS
Definition: Advanced meters and the
Definition: Transmission and distribution of
associated hardware and software,
electricity using a
communications systems, and information
robust network of two-way
technology systems
communications, advanced sensors, and
distributed computers Purpose: Provide timely access to
consumption data, enabling consumers to
Purpose: Improve the efficiency, reliability,
make informed choices about energy use
and safety of power delivery
and reduce their energy costs
Providing “actionable information” to the operator
Oncor Electric Delivery CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 4
5. Smart Grid
Communications Applications
Satellite Distribution Management
Radio Frequency (RF) System (DMS)
Fiber Outage Management
Cellular System (OMS)
Broadband Over Power Line (BPL) Supervisory Control and
Power Line Carrier (PLC) Data Acquisition (SCADA)
Pager Mobile Workforce
Substation Management (MWM)
Monitoring Fib er Meter Data Management
Control System (MDMS)
Supervisory Control and Transmission Management
Data Acquisition (SCADA) System (TMS)
Web Portal
System Monitoring Distribution Automation
Voltage Intelligent Switching
Outage Capacitor Control
Advanced Metering Market Support
Billing Interval Reads
Remote Sensing Demand Response
Home Area Network (HAN) Retail Communication
Oncor Electric Delivery CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 5
6. AMS Background “…put information and control
into the hands of the consumer,
Oncor’s AMS initiative has evolved as a with integrated technologies that
enable individuals to obtain timely
result of PUC regulations: information on energy use, manage
their own consumption patterns
and reduce costs.” – PUC
Oncor launches its automated meter reading initiative and begins
2005 replacing traditional meters with automated meters.
The Public Utilities Commission of Texas (PUC) adopts its advanced meter
2007 ruling, including specific technical and functional requirements
for meters.
Oncor’s automated meters are not compliant with the PUC’s new regulations
and as a result, Oncor revises its automated meter reading
initiative to become an advanced metering system that is PUC-compliant.
The PUC approves Oncor’s AMS program filing, including a surcharge to
2008 recover implementation costs.
Oncor Electric Delivery CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 6
7. PUC Requirements for Advanced Meters
Provide remotely activated disconnects and reconnects on all
residential meters
Provide 15-minute interval data, which equates to almost 3,000
reads per month per meter versus the historical one read per month
Provide consumption data to HAN and communicate with HAN
devices, such as in-home energy monitors
Give REPs ability to directly interact with the consumer’s meter,
including getting on-demand reads and sending messages and
control signals
Provide market-defined Web portal functionality
Oncor Electric Delivery CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 7
8. AMS Program Components
In-home Monitors
Radio Frequency (RF) Mesh
for Low-income
and Backhaul Networks
Customers
AMS
MAXIMO
LCIS
HEAD
END AMS
ODS
MDMS AMS Program
IT Infrastructure, Customer Education Program,
Integration, and Internal Including the Mobile
Web Portal Experience Center (MEC)
Smart Meter Texas Web
Portal for ERCOT, REPs, Advanced Meter Installation
and Consumers and Provisioning
Oncor Electric Delivery CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 8
9. AMS Benefits
AMS:
Supports energy conservation strategies with increased system
functionalities
Provides an environment for consumers to make informed decisions
about their energy consumption
Improves the overall reliability and efficiency of our system
Creates new opportunities for consumers and REPs
Delivers an infrastructure that facilitates the partnership with REPs in
providing customer choice and a high-quality service standard by
which others are measured
Oncor Electric Delivery CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 9
10. AMS Features and Benefits
Once fully deployed, AMS offers numerous benefits to consumers,
REPs, and Oncor:
Feature Benefits
Advanced meters Offers consumers nearly 3,000 meter reads per month rather
automatically read and than one historic read, allowing more timely adjustments to
record meter data at energy use
15-minute intervals. Increases REP billing options, including time-of-use rates, rates
that foster demand response, and prepaid services, giving
consumers new avenues for controlling their energy costs
Eliminates the need to send a person to read and record meter
data, reducing vehicle emissions and reducing vehicle accidents
Advanced meter Eliminates the need to send a person to manually perform
disconnects and service orders, reducing employee safety issues and reducing
reconnects can be vehicle emissions
performed remotely. Provides the ability to initiate selective load reduction without
impacting sensitive or critical loads, improving response to
emergency curtailment operations
Enables prepaid retail pricing, allowing consumers and REPs to
have pricing plans that meet their needs
Oncor Electric Delivery CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 10
11. AMS Features and Benefits (cont)
Feature Benefits
Advanced meters Provides the ability to detect outages faster and pinpoint quickly
provide power loss where on the system the outage has occurred, enabling faster
signals. outage restoration
Advanced meters can be Provides the ability to read meters on an as-needed basis,
read on-demand. improving efficiencies with move-ins, move-outs, and other
requests that require a meter reading
Eliminates the need to send a person to read and record meter
data, enabling real-time diagnostic capabilities and reducing
vehicle emissions
Advanced meters Enhances visibility of energy consumption to consumers via
automatically send meter in-home monitors, allowing more choices about energy use
data to the consumer’s Provides demand response and load control signals, allowing
HAN. consumers to take advantage of off-peak and time-of-use rates
Communicates with smart appliances, offering consumers control
of selected appliances using ZigBee Smart Energy (SE) 1.0
Smart Meter Texas Streamlines Oncor’s operational efficiencies by providing a
Portal will be available self-service portal
for consumers, REPs, Gives consumers, REPs, and authorized third parties access to
and ERCOT. consumption data, offering self-service account maintenance
Oncor Electric Delivery CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 11
12. Key AMS Milestones
3/31/09: Supported interim HAN functionality,
allowing communication between the advanced
meter and an in-home display enabled with 7/10/09: Reached 250,000+ 12/31/11: Reach 2.5 million
ZigBee Smart Energy 1.0 meters installed meters installed
5/30/09: Transitioned from L+G 12/31/12: Full AMS
hosting to Oncor, streamlining 12/31/09: Reached deployment, including
advanced meter functionality 663,774 meters installed up to 3.2 million
meters installed*
6/7/09: Went live with AMS
Maximo Release 0,
enabling tracking of meter 12/31/10: Reached 1.5 million
assets and locations meters installed
2009 2010 2011 2012
6/30/09: Went live with 1/31/10: Went live with Release 2, including:
AMS Release 1, providing
Deploying the internal Web portal
15-minute interval VEE
data to the Market Upgrading Head End and MDMS
Enhancing remote connect and disconnect capabilities
6/1/09: Implemented prepaid electric service, Enhancing HAN functionality
allowing reconnects/disconnects within 1 Supporting the Smart Meter Texas portal, giving consumers,
hour of notice from REPs REPs, and ERCOT access to account data
5/1/09: Supported time-of-use (TOU) 9/30/09: Went live with L+G Command
functionality for existing rates, enabling Center Release 4.1, improving meter
REPs to offer TOU rates data collection
* Based on growth estimates
Oncor Electric Delivery CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 12
13. AMS Process
A cohesive, four-step business process frames the complex AMS
infrastructure of advanced meters, hardware, software, communications
systems, and meter information networks.
1 2 3 4
Read the Collect the Validate the Transmit the
Meter Meter Data Meter Data Meter Data
The advanced meter Oncor’s RF mesh and Oncor’s back-office Oncor sends the meter
records energy use backhaul networks systems check the data to ERCOT, REPs,
at the premise and collect the meter data meter data for accuracy and consumers for
transmits the meter data and send it to Oncor’s and completeness. market settlement,
to the consumer’s HAN back-office systems. billing, account
and to Oncor’s network. management, and
monitoring of personal
energy use.
Oncor Electric Delivery CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 13
14. Meter Data Flow
Read the
1 Meter On-Demand 3 Validate the 4 Transmit the
Reads via Meter Data Meter Data
In-Home Monitor
DATA
HAN HAN LCIS REPOSITORY
Bill-Cycle
Smart Meter Data
Meter Appliances
Premise Meter &
Daily Meter Reads & MDMS & Billing Customer
RF Mesh Meter Data Account
Interval Usage Data Meter &
Network Transactions Data
Customer
Interval & Account
Register Data Data Market
AMS
HEAD Settlement
Meter ODS
Backhaul END Data
RF Mesh Attributes
Network Network
Meter Meter
Router Attributes Attributes Meter &
AMS
Customer Customer REPs
MAXIMO Account
Collector Account
Data Data
Smart Meter
Collect the
2 Meter Data
Texas Portal
Individual
Account
Data
Oncor Internal Web Consumer
Portal
Oncor Electric Delivery CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 14
15. Meter Data Flow – Read the Meter
Advanced Meter:
Records energy usage at 15-minute intervals
Transmits meter data to the premise HAN
In-home Monitor
device via ZigBee Smart Energy 1.0 Receives meter data from the HAN
Transmits meter data to Oncor via the RF
Displays energy usage to the consumer in near real-time
Mesh network Communicates with the HAN to manage smart appliances
Read the
1 Meter On-Demand
Reads via Smart Appliances
In-Home Display Connect to the HAN via
ZigBee Smart Energy 1.0
Projects underway to bring
HAN HAN smart appliances to market
Smart
Meter Appliances
RF Mesh
Network Home Area Network (HAN):
Receives energy usage data from the advanced meter
Sends meter data to the HAN device
Communicates with smart appliances
RF Mesh Network:
Receives meter data
Sends meter data to the router
Oncor Electric Delivery CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 15
16. Meter Data Flow – Collect the Meter Data
Router: Backhaul Network:
Receives meter data from the Uses wide area network (WAN), fiber,
RF Mesh network microwave, or cellular components
Forwards meter data to the Forwards meter data to Head End
appropriate collector
RF Mesh Daily Meter Reads &
Meter
Network Interval Usage Data
Transactions
Head End:
Collects meter data
HEAD Receives meter attributes from AMS Maximo
RF Mesh Backhaul END Forwards meter data to the Meter Data
Network Network Management System (MDMS)
Meter
Router Attributes
Collector
Collect the
2 Meter Data Collector:
Receives meter data from the router via
the RF Mesh network
Forwards meter data to Head End via the
Backhaul network
Oncor Electric Delivery CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 16
17. RF Mesh and Backhaul Two-Way Communication Networks
RF Mesh Network
900 MHz
Backhaul Network
Satellite, microwave,
cellular, fiber, and wide
area network
Routers Back Office
Mounted on utility poles and street lights Collectors
Approximately 30 per collector Mounted on 70 ft. concrete poles
Approximately 9,000 Four antennas on the top, and
a control panel and backhaul
communication box at the base
Normally located in substations,
within substation fence
Approximately 300
IT
RF Smart Meters
Systems
Installed in residential and commercial premises
Meter-to-meter communication
Approximately 356 per router
Approximately 3.2 million
Router Collector
Oncor Electric Delivery CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 17
18. Meter Data Flow – Validate the Meter Data
Meter Data Management System (MDMS):
Receives the meter data from Head End Legacy Customer Information System (LCIS):
Receives meter attributes from Receives bill-cycle meter data from MDMS
AMS Maximo Receives meter attributes from AMS Maximo
Validates the accuracy and completeness Ensures meter data complies with business rules
of the meter reads through the process of Creates billing files
validation, estimating, and editing (VEE) 3 Validate the Sends premise and billing data to AMS ODS
Provides estimates for any missing Meter Data
interval data
Creates billing-quality data
Sends bill-cycle meter data to LCIS Bill-Cycle
LCIS
Sends interval and register data to the Meter Data
AMS ODS database
Premise
AMS Operational Data Stores (ODS):
MDMS & Billing Receives interval and register data
Data Meter & from MDMS
Customer Receives premise and billing data
Interval & Account
Register Data Data from LCIS
AMS Integrates interval data and billing
Meter ODS
Attributes data to make analysis and
reporting easier
Meter Sends meter and customer account
Attributes Meter &
AMS data to the internal Web portal and
Customer
MAXIMO Account the data repository
AMS Maximo: Data
Maintains asset information
and associated equipment Oncor Internal Web Portal:
Sends meter attributes Receives the meter data from
to MDMS and AMS ODS AMS ODS
Provides data for internal
Oncor Internal Web
Portal
reporting and analysis
Oncor Electric Delivery CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 18
19. Meter Data Flow – Transmit the Meter Data to REPS,
ERCOT, and Consumers
4 Transmit the
Meter Data
Data Repository:
Receives the meter data from
AMS ODS
Organizes and stores the meter DATA
REPOSITORY
data by REP
Sends account data to the Smart
Meter Texas Portal Meter &
Customer
Account
Data
ERCOT: Uses the market
Market
settlement data to assess
Settlement administrative fees, publish billing
Data statements, and resolve disputes
Smart Meter Texas Portal:
Provides self-service market
Customer REPs REPs: Use the customer account
settlement data to ERCOT Account
data to bill customers, manage
Provides self-service customer Data
customer accounts, and support
account data to REPs and Smart Meter
Texas Portal innovative new programs and
authorized third parties
pricing options
Provides self-service individual
Individual
account data to consumers Account
Data
Consumers: Use their account
Consumer data to make more informed
choices about energy use
Oncor Electric Delivery CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 19
20. AMS Implementation Partners
Business Operations,
Project Management, Systems Development,
and Meter Deployment Integration, and
Operational Support
Infrastructure Support
Meters, Routers,
and Collectors
MDMS Design and
Installation
Oncor Electric Delivery CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 20
21. AMS Deployment – Metropolitan Area (as of December 2011)
Yellow – Deployed
Pink – Currently Deploying
Green – Future Deployment
Deployment is determined by meter district. See
http://www.oncor.com/tech_reliable/smarttexas/deployment.aspx
for deployment schedule by ESI ID.
Oncor Electric Delivery CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 21
22. AMS Deployment – Non-Metro (as of December 2011)
Yellow – Deployed
Pink – Currently Deploying
Green – Future Deployment
Oncor Electric Delivery CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 22
23. For More Information
www.smartmetertexas.com
www.smarttexas.com
www.twitter.com/smarttexas
www.facebook.com/smarttexas
www.oncor.com
Or email AMS Project in Outlook
Oncor Electric Delivery CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 23
Editor's Notes
This slide shows Oncor’s AMS deployment profile: Currently, we’re one of the largest deployment in the U.S., installing up to 3.2 million meters by 2012 and serving about 7 million people in our service area. Eventually, we’ll ramp up to about 800,000 to 900,000 meters a year until all meters are installed.
Let’s talk about “Smart Texas.” What is it? And where does Smart Grid and AMS fit in? Here you can look at the definition of each.
What are the components of Smart Grid? Smart Grid includes substations and advanced meters—which are the heart of AMS. It also includes SCADA—you may have heard of that. We have data in the field and we need to get that back to the office. We do that through backhaul communications such as satellite, radio frequency, and cellular. We have many IT applications and distribution automation. All this is to support Oncor and the market. Smart Grid leads to better system integrity and reliability.
How did we get here? Back in 2005, we started our automated meter (AMR) initiative. We put in 600,000 automated meters. Then, the Texas Legislature passed a law that basically said, “We want advanced meters.” In May 2007, the PUC issued a rule defining requirements for those meters. Our AMR meters were not compliant with the new requirements, so we cancelled the program and started AMS, with the PUC’s approval.
The Oncor advanced meters meet all PUC technical and functional requirements.
So what are the components of AMS? The program provides funding for in-home devices for qualified customers. If you look at the IT infrastructure, essentially all Oncor IT applications have been touched, so modifications are required there, including new and revised business processes. We now have a common portal that all REPs, consumers, and ERCOT will use. There’s a telecommunications component to get the meter data to and from the office. It’s critical to make sure consumers understand the benefits these meters provide and how they can leverage this information, so we have a customer education program that includes before and after installation, as well as the MEC. And then, of course, there’s the meter installation itself.
Why are we doing AMS? It allows us to know more about how the system is performing. Consumers are able to know and observe more about their energy consumption. We know when and where to spend money on improvements. It provides new opportunities for rates and pricing plans. All of this leads to a better system design.
Let’s go ahead and look at some of the details. (Let them read and perhaps talk about a few bullets based on audience interests.) We now have nearly 3,000 reads per month per meter. The safety of our employees has increased because we no longer have to send them out to read the meters or perform disconnects and reconnects. We can now quickly reconnect those with prepaid pricing plans. Customer load control will be opt-in (e.g., ERCOT-directed load shedding). Since deployment began, we’ve prevented more than 2 million truck rolls, saving approximately $16-20 million in people, truck, and fuel costs.
With AMS, we know when a outage occurs and we know when it’s restored. It narrows down where the problems are. We can read meters on demand. HAN devices allow you to read energy consumption and estimate what your bill will be. Everyone in Texas will go to the same site for account maintenance.
Some of our key milestones: The program started in 2009 and the plan is to finish by 2012. If you look, there are some interim regulatory commitments, plus numbers to hit.
Let’s talk briefly about how AMS works. We read the meter, collect the data, and make sure it’s accurate. Then we send the meter data to where it’s needed—either to billing or to the market.
Let’s discuss how the meter data gets from the meter to the market: Again, we read the meter and that data flows inside your house and to the RF mesh, which is Landis+Gyr’s Gridstream network. L+G is our primary AMS vendor, supplying our meters and the related network equipment. The second box shows the data flow through the mesh—it might be through multiple meters or a series of routers. Eventually it goes to a collector at a substation and to the Head End, the software application that controls the meter and provides a way for us to get the data back to the home office. Once it’s at the back office, we validate and process the data through some of the applications shown here. Then, we transmit the data to the parties that need it—in this case, ERCOT, REPs, and consumers.
This is a more detailed breakdown of what’s happening: An important note on the HAN. There are no production HAN devices available today. Our validation team is testing several pre-production models to ensure they work with our system. We expect to see some models in production this year. ZigBee is a low-frequency radio in the meter—similar to Bluetooth—and is the standard for in-home area network devices.
The router acts like a cell phone tower—sending the signal where it needs to be relayed. As many as 10,000 to 15,000 meters could route signals to a single collector. From there, the data is sent to the backhaul network and the back office, as shown here. Again, Head End is the vendor software that talks to and controls the meter.
This is just another picture of the RF mesh: It’s a 900 MHz proprietary network that uses meters or routers to get the signal to the collector. The collectors are normally in substations so we have a power supply and can get the data to the back office, as shown here. In addition to the RF mesh: The intent is to incorporate a power line carrier (PLC) network for rural areas. This is dependent on vendors developing a PLC-compliant advanced meter.
MDMS does the validating and produces billing-quality data. LCIS provides the premise and billing data. AMS ODS provides our long-term storage and provides data for reporting. AMS Maximo manages our assets. Our internal Web portal is used for reporting and analysis.
Once the meter data is valid and bill quality, we store it a data repository that can be accessed through the customer portal or Web services, which allows the REPs or ERCOT to access large amounts of data and register HAN devices.
This slide shows some of our partners for the AMS implementation.
If you look at the deployment, you’ll see that we actually have metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. If you have a question about your deployment, you can go to oncor.com, put in your ESI ID, and see when your meter will be installed.
Here we can see what’s deployed outside of the D/FW area.
If you have questions about AMS, there’s quite a bit of information on our website. We’re also on Twitter!