Trade Publication Article

Looking back at residential AMR

Abbott, Ralph, Cody, Eric

2003

Overview

The utility industry's transition to market competition over the last five years has been anything but smooth. The vision of competitive retail choice has not yet fulfilled early expectations-to many, the retail electricity market has defied regulatory prescription and left many customers seeing a plateful of transition costs but rarely tasting savings.Nor have the anticipated metering information requirements materialized. Few customers or retail suppliers appear to want to be burdened with prices that vary hourly. On the contrary, according to market research, a regimen of fixed prices locked in for several years wins wider acceptance from most residential consumers. Looking back on the experiences of the past five years, the industry should be better prepared for the next five to make coherent and correct decisions about metering, data acquisition, and other revenue cycle services. Some lessons: 1. The electric utility is, after all, the obvious and best qualified provider of metering services for the residential sector at least, given the absolute necessity that the function be performed accurately and efficiently. 2. Energy service providers (ESPS) are simply not interested in residential customers under currently prevailing market conditions and default service arrangements. 3. Most residential customers appear perfectly happy to remain with their historical utility as energy provider.

• Publisher: Edison Electric Institute
• Subject: Automation / Competition / Cost control / Customer services / Data collection / Electric rates / Electric utilities / Electricity / Energy / Industrywide conditions / Radio communications / Small business / Stockholders / Suppliers