Remote Connect and Disconnect
AMI can greatly benefit the utility by providing the ability to perform remote service connect and disconnects. This can reduce time, labor, truck expense, and the fuel costs of traditional methods, especially on accounts that are repeatedly on the schedule for delinquent disconnect. Overtime hours may be reduced and safety is increased for the employee by reducing the amount of drive time and remotely performing the task from the office via two-way communication with the AMI.

Outage Management
AMI plays a very integral role in outage management. When integrated with an Outage Management System (OMS) the AMI meters can report outages, verify outage location, and also verify outage restoration. This ability can save the utility costs in drive time by knowing the location of the outage cause and help to reduce outage duration, which increases system reliability.

Distribution Automation
Distribution automation and AMI go hand and hand. Having two way communications with an advanced metering infrastructure allows the utility to automate many processes. Remote connects or disconnects can be automated and integrated with a prepay system which enhances customer service. Other intelligent electronic devices (IED’s) can be installed on the system to enhance the utilities distribution automation capabilities.

Energy Theft Detection
Energy theft detection is a serious matter in the electric utility industry. Having an AMI system can help to identify possible energy thief’s and therefore reduce lost revenue and liability. The utility can use AMI to check for reverse rotation of meters or any usage on meters at disconnected accounts. The AMI system can monitor this activity and alarm on suspicious locations.