AMI advantages include improved safety

In last month’s issue of your Ohio Cooperative Living magazine, there was a one-page update regarding advanced metering infrastructure, or AMI. If you’ve been following along, you know that I announced this system improvement in June 2021 with a completion date to be in late 2022. Unfortunately, the pandemic and its continuing effects have kept us from being able to complete this project, but we are still inching our way toward the finish line.

If you’ve ever been to an annual meeting, you will know that we stress that safety is always our top priority, not just for our employees, but for our members and the community as well. The new advanced meters have safety features that were not available with analog or digital meters. Most importantly, they can detect issues with meter sockets. As we have gradually been installing these new advanced meters on our lines, approximately 3% of the time, they are detecting a dangerous electrical temperature in the meter base, known as a “hot socket.”

Hot sockets are caused by poor connections or other issues in your meter base. Hot sockets become more dangerous the longer they’re left uncorrected and cause as many as 1,000 house fires per year. The pictures below show the backs of both a normal meter and a damaged meter that were recently removed to make the switch to advanced meters. As you can see, the areas around the prongs in the second picture are melted as a result of a hot socket. When an advanced meter detects a hot socket, it will disconnect your power and you will need to repair or replace your meter base.

If you have any questions about AMI, give us a call.

GUERNSEY-MUSKINGUM ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE CURRENTLY SPEAKING