Utilities across the world are making increasing investments in advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and meter data management systems (MDMS). AMI and MDMS help utilities connect their customers to the smart grid in more dynamic ways, help customers make sustainable energy choices and manage their utility costs efficiently. AMI helps gather, evaluate and analyze volumes of meter data usage, as well as integrate with external devices for comprehensive monitoring of the system. However, utilities face several operational challenges once they have adopted AMI and MDMS.As the meter volume increases, utilities need to pay attention to issues such as efficiently handling meter data exceptions, gaining meaningful insights from meter events and last gasp messages, and migrating meter data into MDMS.This paper discusses the key operational challenges post implementation of AMI and MDM systems. It recommends solutions for improved exception management, efficient handling of meter events, and minimal downtimes associated with data migration from existing Automatic Meter Reading (AMR)/AMI or handheld systems.
