News

GUERNSEY Electricity’s innovative automated metering (AMR) initiative has won a major international award.

The project to install automated electricity meters in more than 25,000 local homes and businesses over the next five years has been named the ‘Best AMR Initiative in Europe’.

Metering manager Bob Beebe said the award will bring global recognition for the company and the island. It will be presented before the start of the Metering Americas conference in Las Vegas next month, and Guernsey Electricity has been invited to share its experience at a workshop for other delegates.

The annual conference last year attracted more than 600 utility company representatives from 35 countries.

‘We are particularly pleased because the award is judged by companies who are really able to assess our achievement. It is recognition of all the work that we have done so far, and confirmation that Guernsey really is a front runner in the use of this technology,’ he said.

Guernsey Electricity has been trialling the AMR technology since 2002, and already has more than 2,000 of the new meters in operation. It now plans to replace all the remaining old metering equipment, and become the world’s first power company to switch to a fully integrated automated system.

Once this is complete, access to customer premises will no longer be required to read meters or carry out many other standard operations. Estimated accounts will become a thing of the past, and Guernsey Electricity will also be able to trace and repair faults quicker.

Guernsey Electricity managing director Ian Watson said the company was committed to improving services.

‘Wherever it is appropriate and beneficial to our customers, we will always look to use technology to provide a better service. Automated metering is a prime example. It will improve reliability and efficiency, and offer much more convenience,’ he said.

‘In the longer term, the information that we are able to gather could also be used to offer new services that further benefit customers.’

The awards are presented by the Energy Planning Network (EPN), and entries were received from Australia, Africa, Asia, Europe, USA, South America and Canada. A panel of judges, comprising representatives of major utility companies from all over the world, scored these on innovation, customer benefits, project management, and quality.

‘This is a truly cross-industry effort, with representatives from gas companies, investor-owned utilities, water companies, municipal utilities and electric co-operatives all coming together to jointly recognise excellence,’ said EPN managing director John Hoggard.