The new meters will provide better customer programs and services, and spur greater sustainability and regional economic development
Image: The RFP marks a major step in modernizing the electric grid to better serve customers. Photo: courtesy of Gerd Altmann from Pixabay.
El Paso Electric Company (the Company or EPE) (EE) announced the release of its request for proposal (RFP) for an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI or smart meter) and meter data management system (MDMS) to evaluate the best options available to provide a modern, customer-centric solution that will improve customer service and reliability, provide better customer programs and services, and spur greater sustainability and regional economic development.
“We must provide our customers with services that can give them more information and control of their energy usage, enhanced energy management tools, and improved reliability and efficiency,” said Adrian J. Rodriguez, interim CEO of El Paso Electric. “A major component of any smart community initiative is smart metering technology which is the necessary foundation for a more sustainable environment and ensuring that our region is not left behind in an increasingly global economy. We look forward to partnering with our customers including: regional municipalities, businesses, utilities and educational institutions on this important initiative.”
EPE is embarking upon the process of evaluating an AMI-MDMS solution to provide EPE customers with additional tools, programs, and opportunities to manage and monitor their electric consumption and to provide EPE with greater operational efficiencies while improving electric service reliability and resiliency for its customers.
The AMI-MDMS solution is expected to address key EPE utility needs including:
Empowering customers to control their bills through more frequent and timely electric usage information;
Improving the accuracy of customer outage data thus enabling faster outage restoration;
Improving EPE’s distribution system reliability; and
Building a foundation for future Smart Grid and Smart City technologies.
The Notification of Intent to Bid is due November 1, 2019, and a bidder will be selected by April 9, 2020. Any procurement resulting from this RFP is subject to regulatory approval.
Source: Company Press Release