Substation Construction/Maintenance Electrician II Wyatt Blackburn
By the end of September, Greenville Utilities will be prepared to begin testing its Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system.
The first phase -- the Technology Implementation Phase (TIP)-- is the first of the multi-year, multi-million-dollar project that will take nearly six years to complete and touch every single meter at GUC. The new technology in this phase will run concurrently with the existing infrastructure to ensure data collection is accurate and functionality is up to standards.
Within TIP, User Acceptance Testing (UAT) will start in October with four base stations and antennas installed supporting 89 meters that represent all the different types and configurations common to GUC. At the conclusion of this phase, AMI will be fully integrated with Oracle CCS, Cityworks, ESRI GIS, and the Meridian customer portal.
By the end of 2026, 16 base stations and antennas across the GUC service area will be installed, providing full coverage and redundancy. This will allow the next phase – Pilot Deployment -- to begin in early 2027. The pilot will include approximately 1,300 customers and system monitoring and troubleshooting will take center stage to prepare the Full Deployment Phase to be as seamless as possible.
The final phase is Full Deployment Phase (May 2027-June 2032), which has a much longer timeline. It is a structured and strategic approach in replacing the rest of the systems’ aging Advance Meter Reading (AMR) technology.
Since the kickoff meeting in April 2026, GUC leadership and employees have been working closely with the chosen AMI vendor, Sensus, to coordinate new meter and Smartpoint Radio shipments, employee training sessions, and base stations installation schedules.
“The AMI project is making great strides, thanks to the dedication and hard work of the entire team,” said AMI Project Manager Elizabeth Sharp.
“Everyone has been deeply engaged in requirements and design workshops, testing the first meter shipments, preparing the phase one network installation sites, and determining what new processes will look like as GUC transitions from the AMR to the AMI world. The extensive pre-planning work completed by the team earlier this year has been instrumental in positioning us for a seamless move into network deployment and the installation of our initial meters in the field for user acceptance testing this fall. As a result, we are on track for a successful software launch and a smooth mass deployment of meters.”
The AMI project is a necessity, as the current AMR technology and infrastructure are aging out and is difficult to resupply and support. GUC has been using AMR since 2004.
Read more details about AMI technology and the AMI project here.
