Automated Meter Reading: If, Then When?

Fortnightly Magazine - October 1 1999
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AMRA's annual symposium addresses potential payoffs and lingering concerns about the technology.

The annual Automated Meter Reading Symposium, Sept. 26-29 in Reno, Nev., finds AMR a year further along in its evolution in terms of both implementation and ideas for application and usage.

But while a few electric utilities have embraced AMR and others will arrive at the symposium ready to make purchases, some uncertainty remains for others as to the what, when and how of the technology.

How Soon is Now?

"People thought AMR was going to mushroom fast," observes Bob Green, president of AMRA. Certainly, the arrival of the 12th annual AMRA Symposium raises the question, "Why the tentative attitude toward AMR?" Numerous opinions are floating about, and while some may seem to conflict, that's actually not the case.

"It's not technology, because the technology is there," says Green. And yet, "Obsolescence is one of the biggest fear factors," says Ron Chebra, executive director, business development at AT&T Solutions and president-elect of AMRA. So the technology is there, but the perception is that it still must evolve.

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