Meter readers are required to complement the ‘smart’ meter system and ensure that actual readings are obtained when required, ARMS told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

This follows the article ‘Meter readers still visiting homes despite 99% of electricity meters being ‘smart’’, carried by this newspaper two weeks ago. The article made reference to the fact that meter readers are still visiting homes to check readings manually, even though Enemalta said that 99 per cent of electricity meters are smart.

According to the ARMS Ltd website, “The smart electricity meter is an advanced meter that can store information (such as consumption readings) and transmit the data via a network to a central system. It can also receive commands from a remote location, which the old meter does not permit any of this. In the case of old meters, consumption has to be read manually, and it is unable to communicate to and from a central system.”

ARMS also told this newsroom that “one also has to keep in mind that readings for billing are required in a very specific time window and if there is an intermittent fault, it may be necessary to send a meter reader to try to obtain an actual reading for billing purposes.”

Another reason why a meter reader is sent is when a module has not yet been installed, as is the case for some water meters, ARMS added.

While Enemalta has said that 99 per cent of electricity meters are smart, it noted that 85 per cent of these smart meters are ‘reached’ when asked for the percentage of meters that send their readings automatically.

When questioned about why some of the electricity meters do not transmit data automatically, ARMS said this is an electronic device communicating over power lines. Like all other digital systems, there may be problems in the communication channel.

With regard to water meters, ARMS said that the Water Services Corporation (WSC) does not install smart water meters, but a module which is connected to the meter that sends consumption data. To date, 91 per cent of all water meters have a module installed, they noted.

When asked why the percentage is lower than that of electricity meters, considering that their implementation started around the same time, ARMS said that the WSC AMM project implementation phase started a year after that of Enemalta plc, “and in any case, it is very difficult to draw comparisons.”

ARMS explained that data for water meters is transmitted from the module installed to WSC gateways via radio-frequency technology. Data is then transmitted from the gateways to WSC via GPR.

The Malta Independent on Sunday had also reported the lead time for the replacement of a defective water meter, in terms of the service-level agreement (SLA), which is the commitment between a service provider and client, is 40 days, according to the ministry.

While the ministry did not confirm, however, what the actual lead time currently is, it said that “the Corporation is currently implementing an aggressive strategy to replace a backlog of faulty meters.”

ARMS noted that the cause of the backlog of faulty water meters was due to water meter technology having moved relatively slowly throughout the years. 

Water meters are susceptible to scaling, abrasion and rust, which in turn means that the number of meter replacements is high. The WSC is currently implementing an aggressive strategy to replace a backlog of faulty meters, ARMS noted.

It said, however, that the WSC always tries to keep within all the stipulated SLAs, and in this particular regard it has embarked on a very aggressive strategy to ensure this.

 

Several voiced their doubts over the fact that meter readers are still around 

Just a few weeks ago, ARMS Ltd had informed the public that its employees who are visiting homes to check their meters would always be wearing a specific uniform. Several people reading the announcement questioned why meter readers were still being sent since smart meters were installed in most places.

In 2009, Enemalta began installing smart meters and water probes as part of a pilot project. It was then reported that the planned replacement of all electricity and water meters would cost €47 million and would enable remote, real-time and accurate meter reading. This would make physical meter reading and billing based on consumption estimates unnecessary.

During this time, it was also reported that people already employed with the WSC, especially those employed as meter readers, would be retrained to run the system and perform inspection duties.