Garden City, Kansas Reaps Benefits of Smart Grid for Electric and Water Customers

 
Garden City, Kansas serves the water and electric needs for a population of more than 28,500 residents. As a municipal utility provider, Garden City is committed to providing affordable electricity and water to its citizens. The city turned to Sensus, its existing water meter provider, for solutions to update their electric and water meter reading processes and technologies.
 

CHALLENGE

For decades, Garden City relied on manual meter reads managed first through the city and subsequently through a contracted meter reading service. Not only was this an additional cost to the city, it was an inconvenience for residents who sometimes complained when meter readers visited their property. Moreover, meter reads were challenging during winter months when snow and ice often prevented readers from accessing the meters, requiring bills to be based on estimated usage.

In 2008, Garden City began evaluating the need for a fixed-base advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) system that would enable remote meter reading, greater accuracy in billing and improved customer service. Garden City also sought a single solution for electric and water needs that would help control project costs and afford even greater efficiency in utility operations.
 

SOLUTION

Garden City evaluated many different types of AMI systems before ultimately selecting Sensus as its smart grid technology provider. Not only had Sensus proved to be a reliable partner in the past, the company was one of the only providers to have demonstrated success in serving the AMI needs of both electric and water utilities during more than 300 smart grid projects completed or underway.

The Sensus FlexNet™ AMI communications network is a point-to-multipoint network communicating via dedicated, licensed spectrum. Based on open standards, the system can support electric and water needs, as well as multiple smart grid applications, with one network simply by allocating multiple channels of spectrum. By serving as a single communications highway, the Sensus FlexNet system was able to meet Garden City’s immediate needs while also protecting their investment with support for future expansion of the smart grid program.

\Garden City completed installation of Sensus iCon® A electric meters for 11,400 electric accounts. As an existing Sensus water customer, Garden City was able to simply switch registers on its existing 8,500 residential, commercial and industrial meters for the ICE TouchCoupler register and install SmartPoints on each meter at the same location as the registers, reducing overall project costs. Sensus was able to cover the entire service territory with only two FlexNet Base Stations located ten miles apart.

City officials worked with Sensus and a contracted installation team to perform a preliminary audit of existing meter assets and installation, which all parties found to be a smooth, collaborative process.
 

RESULTS

Garden City completed installation of the FlexNet system and electric and water meters in late 2010 at a total cost of $3.3 million, financed by the city. Officials estimate a full return on investment for the electric program within three years.