History of Automated Meter Reading (AMR)

The Automated Meter Reading (AMR) was first conceived in 1962 by AT&T, but this experiment was not successful. After successful experiments, AT&T offered to provide phone system-based AMR services at $2 per meter. The price was four times more than the monthly cost of a person to read the meter-50 cents. Thus the program was considered economically unfeasible.

In 1972, Theodore George “Ted” Paraskevakos, while working with Boeing in Huntsville, Alabama, developed a sensor monitoring system which used digital transmission for security, fire and medical alarm systems as well as meter reading capabilities for all utilities. This technology was a spin off of the automatic telephone line identification system, now known as Caller ID.

In 1974, Mr. Paraskevakos was awarded a U.S. patent  for this technology.In 1977, He launched Metretek, Inc., which developed and produced the first fully automated, commercially available remote meter reading and load management system. Since this system was developed pre-internet, Metretek utilized the IBM series 1 mini-computer. For this approach, Mr. Paraskevakos and Metretek were awarded multiple patents.

The modern era of AMR began in 1985, when several major full-scale projects were implemented. Hackensack Water Co. and Equitable Gas Go. were the first to commit to full-scale implementation of AMR on water and gas meters,
respectively. In 1986, Minnegasco initiated a 450,000-point radio-based AMR system. In 1987, Philadelphia Electric Co., faced with a large number of inaccessible meters, installed thousands of distribution line carrier AMR units to solve this problem. Thus, AMR is becoming more viable each day. Advances in solid-state electronics, microprocessor components and low cost surface-mount technology assembly techniques have been the catalyst to produce reliable cost-effective products capable of providing the economic and human benefits that justify use of AMR systems on a large, if not full-scale, basis.

The primary driver for the automation of meter reading is not to reduce labor costs, but to obtain data that is difficult to obtain. As an example, many water meters are installed in locations that require the utility to schedule an appointment with the homeowner in order to obtain access to the meter. In many areas, consumers have demanded that their monthly water bill be based on an actual reading, instead of (for example) an estimated monthly usage based on just one actual meter reading made every 12 months. Early AMR systems often consisted of walk-by and drive-by AMR for residential customers, and telephone-based AMR for commercial or industrial customers. What was once a need for monthly data became a need for daily and even hourly readings of the meters. Consequently, the sales of drive-by and telephone AMR has declined in the US, while sales of fixed networks has increased. The US Energy Policy Act of 2005 asks that electric utility regulators consider the support for a “…time-based rate schedule (to) enable the electric consumer to manage energy use and cost through advanced metering and communications technology.”