MobileAMRSystem-ValonTechnology,LLC.ppt

An Introduction to AMR AMR = Automatic Meter Reading What is it? Allows remote reading of utility electric, gas, and water meters Via: A network back to the utility A vehicle that reads the meters A handheld reader for “hard-to-read” meters on a manual route Why do it? More reliable and accurate than manual reads Avoids estimated reads due to meter inaccessibility Safety reasons (animals, indoor meters, bad neighborhoods) Cheaper - much lower recurring labor costs Estimating usage on a daily or hourly basis so that supply can be purchased in advance at wholesale rates Lots of market left to penetrate Only 10% of US meters read electronically 237 million meters in U.S. read manually awaiting AMR Gas utilities only 17% penetration 53 million meters in U.S. read manually awaiting AMR There is LOTS of room for new players A Few AMR Modules The Major Players Itron SchlumbergerSema DCSI Hunt Badger Invensys AMCP/Elster Neptune RAMAR Cannon 51 others Worldwide market shares Market served technology used North American AMR units shipped by technology in 2002 U.S. market share by year U.S. AMR units shipped by utility type Favored sales strategy Start with a walk-by system Handheld computer with a radio modem Read most meters manually, hard-to-read meters with radio Only a fraction of the meters are AMR equipped Move to mobile Uses a vehicle equipped with a radio modem Reads all of the meters Requires saturation (all meters are AMR equipped) Move to a network Requires addition of “head-end” sites connected to the billing center Very few utilities have gotten to this stage * * 1-17-2004 file = amr101-1.ppt Neptune Water Pit Solution RAMAR Retrofit Electric Module Itron Water ERT Itron Water Pit Solution Itron Handheld Reader Itron Gas Module Source: Chartwell, Inc. AMR Vendors’ market share based on cumulative shipments through 2002 AMR Vendors’ market share based on 2002 shipments Source: 2003 Scott Report on AMR Deployments Source: 2003 Scott Report on AMR