Smart Money - The evidence base is burgeoning for investment in AMI to make the cut at PR24

The case for Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) in water seems to grow with every development. Arqivas Peter Baker adds to the discussion in this article from The Water Report.

This article first appeared in The Water Report - April 2022.

The case for Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) in water seems to grow with every development. Just this month, some of the scenarios in Water UK's Leakage Routemap depend on it, and we now have a statutory demand reduction target coming in under the Environment Act.

Last year, seven more areas were designated as seriously water stressed, and a report commissioned by communications infrastructure provider Arqiva demonstrated an unequivocal cost benefit case for all water companies to invest in smart meters for household customers. This month, that case was strengthened by a report commissioned by MOSL which points to further cost benefit for wholesalers to invest in AMI for large users and other business customers where household rollout is taking place.

Hard evidence

Real world evidence of benefit is also starting to come in. Arqiva recently announced that it has added the millionth AMI smart water meter to its fixed nationwide tower network, and that these meters could be saving over 66m litres of water a day through improved leak detection, more detailed insight into water consumption and greater consumer engagement with the associated environmental benefits.

First mover in the UK Thames Water has been collecting hourly data from its smart customers (620,000 and counting) since 2015, spurred on by the need to cut demand. Water demand reduction manager Andrew Tucker explains the choice: It's about the additional leakage and the additional usage reduction that we will get from having a smart capability as opposed to the traditional meter system. That additional water saving was enough to justify the additional investment.

Seven years on and he says adopting AMI was the best choice . We have to save water, and stop leaks. The insight from the data is showing so many more leaks, particularly from the customer side Historically, that water balance puts all that lost water on to us whereas a lot is on the customer side, especially inside the home. So we're getting a more accurate water balance. He adds that the frequency of the data collection means customers can be notified of leaks in two days rather than having to wait for up to 12 months, and that 70-80% fix their own leaks within a week.

Tucker makes a topical observation too: that recent rises in the price of fuel and wages are hitting companies with AMR meters that require drive-by reads, and in some parts of the country monthly reads have slipped to three or six monthly. Whilst AMI provides greater cost benefit, the current economic climate does impact the sector's ability to invest in these larger capital programmes. Beyond these vital basics, there are also more creative uses of smart data coming through. In its recent Smarter ways out of water poverty study, for instance, Thames reports that smart initiatives are helping households with affordability indicators and high water usage (more than 500 litres per day) cut £40-£166 from their annual bills, a reduction of 8-17%. Meanwhile, Anglian Water is working on a pathfinder project with MOSL to investigate the feasibility and benefits for the retail market of sharing monthly smart meter reads direct to CMOS (p29).

PR24 prospects

So what can we expect to see on smart metering in water company business plans for PR24? There will, undoubtedly, be more attention to smart metering than in the past. Thames wholeheartedly recommends making the leap to smart on a leakage ticket. Tucker counsels: The best thing the country can do to reduce demand is smart meter everything and engineer out continuous flow. Before you even tackle trying to change behaviours which is very difficult just stop the water loss.

He advises other water companies to go for it on AMI, pointing out the drivers are already there in leakage pledges. Don't let the potential of a next generation in technology stop you from getting in now. Just make the call and then upgrade in the future. Start the journey.

Cost pressures

But justifying the investment in PR24 business plans, and securing support for sufficient investment from Ofwat, will obviously be a prerequisite of delivery. SES Water has had an interesting experience in this AMP relating to costs and funding. The company has committed to move from 60% meter penetration in 2020 to 90% in 2025 under a universal metering programme. It had intended for at least 10% of the new meters to be AMI, and potentially more.

Wholesale director Tom Kelly does not need convincing of the benefits. He shares: The business case for smart metering is compelling compelling enough to do smart as standard in this AMP and the next. But now he says SES' ability to deliver even its 10% AMI commitment is dependent on the resolution of supply chain issues especially the global semiconductor shortage that have pushed prices steeply up. While the cost of cheaper (c£13) dumb meters has risen by around 10%, the cost of AMI meters (originally £35-£50) has gone up far more substantially. We are keen to push forward with smart metering as soon as possible, but we can't hold off the universal metering programme any longer, Kelly says, explaining SES has a Performance Commitment on this, plus it is the last company in the area to move to a compulsory programme. It's right for us to continue the programme, irrespective of the technology.

So in the short term, SES will push on with dumb/AMR installations and install the 10% minimum AMI meters later in the AMP, when hopefully they will be more economically viable. Kelly says to bear in mind: We are small, our buying power is smaller, whi

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