FAQs

AMI 2.0 refers to the next generation of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) that goes beyond basic meter reading to support more advanced capabilities. These include real-time data access, edge computing, enhanced outage detection, two-way communication, and tighter integration with customer engagement tools and grid operations. For utilities, AMI 2.0 enables smarter decision-making, improved reliability, and better service for customers.

Conventional meters contain a mechanical spinning dial with an analog display. These meters record only the total amount of usage for the entire billing period and do not report when usage occurred. Consumption is calculated as the difference between the previous month’s reading and the current month’s reading, as recorded by human meter readers.

Smart meters are digital, and regularly transmit hourly (or more granular) data to the utility. Smart meters also provide operational data, such as power quality monitoring and power outage notifications.

TOU pricing aims to encourage consumers to shift their usage to off-peak hours. Electricity prices rise and fall over the course of the day and drop overnight and on weekends, based on the amount of supply available and the levels of demand. With TOU pricing, electricity prices vary based on when it is used (by time of day, day of week (week days versus weekend) and by season). Shifting energy usage reduces the strain on the electricity system and diminishes the need to construct new power generation facilities.

Absolutely. Every engagement is tailored to your utility’s unique size, regulatory landscape, operational priorities, and organizational culture—ensuring that each solution aligns perfectly with your goals and context.

Not at all. AMI is just one part of what we do. Our team works across the entire utility ecosystem, including CIS, MDM, OMS, ADMS, and grid modernization programs, to help utilities modernize operations, integrate technologies, and deliver greater value to their customers.

Absolutely. We partner with utilities of every scale—from large investor-owned utilities to mid-sized municipals and smaller co-ops—tailoring our approach to meet each organization’s unique goals and challenges. 

Not at all. We partner with electric, water, and gas utilities—helping each modernize infrastructure, streamline operations, and improve the customer experience. Our broad expertise means we understand the unique challenges of every utility type and tailor our solutions accordingly.

AMI 2.0 meters deliver high-resolution, low-latency data to surpass first-generation AMI capabilities. These advanced meters deliver granular insights into energy consumption patterns, voltage levels, and power quality, and can accurately detect anomalies, such as energy theft or equipment malfunction. AMI 2.0 meters also bring a new dimension to utility management with their ability to run apps at the edge. The meters have the capability to process data locally, allowing for immediate action and real-time analytics beyond just monitoring consumption and demand.

Use cases fall into two broad categories. Customer-side use cases provide better customer service or give customers insights into their consumption. Use cases include high bill alerts, EV charging, and appliance load disaggregation. Operational-side use cases are related to the operation and management of the distribution system, such as volt/VAR optimization and distribution automation, or meter monitoring, such as theft detection and high temperature alerts. Next-generation communications networks can also form the cornerstone for the development of smart cities, enabling use cases like dynamic lighting, smart parking, and traffic management.

The most successful AMI projects begin with full organizational alignment—from regulators and executives to front-line staff. A strong business case is essential, clearly defining the opportunity, assessing risks, and presenting a solid financial model that accounts for all operational costs, including integration, training, communications, and ongoing support. It should outline the deployment strategy, timelines, and rate impact in line with the utility’s capital plan, while also highlighting the advanced capabilities that will benefit both the organization and its customers. Keeping the business case active and revisiting it regularly ensures continued alignment and value realization.

Equally important is early engagement with your employees—the ones who will ultimately adopt and support the new systems. Begin conversations early, communicate a compelling vision, and ensure project sponsors are both informed and invested. A well-executed education and communication plan is the foundation for driving buy-in, managing change, and ensuring long-term success.

Training and communications are important tools — but they’re just part of the picture. OCM takes a strategic, structured approach to managing the people side of change. It includes readiness assessments, leadership alignment, impact analysis, stakeholder engagement, resistance management, and post-implementation reinforcement. Our goal is not just awareness, but confident adoption and sustained behavior change.

The earlier, the better. Engaging OCM at the strategy or business case stage allows us to identify risks, align leaders, and ensure organizational considerations shape procurement and deployment decisions. But it’s never too late — even if you’re mid-implementation, we can help recover momentum, address resistance, and support adoption.

Every utility has its own structure, culture, and pace of change. We start by understanding your people — their roles, concerns, and readiness — and then develop customized plans that align with your timeline and business goals. We also integrate seamlessly with your internal teams, governance structures, and vendor partners.

We define success in terms of people outcomes: Are employees aware of the change? Do they understand it? Are they adopting it in their day-to-day work? We use structured metrics based on the ADKAR® Model, stakeholder feedback, and performance data to track adoption and identify gaps. This ensures that change sticks — and that benefits are fully realized.

No — we meet you where you are. Whether you have an established analytics team or are just beginning your data journey, we provide the expertise and resources you need. Our flexible engagement model allows us to supplement your internal capabilities or manage the entire analytics process for you.

Most utilities begin realizing value within months, not years. By focusing on high-value use cases early in the process, we help you unlock insights quickly while building a scalable foundation for long-term growth. Our structured approach — from discovery workshops to release — ensures outcomes are delivered efficiently and sustainably.

Unlike generic analytics tools, our offering is designed specifically for utilities — by a team that deeply understands utility business processes, operations, and AMI data. We don’t just provide dashboards; we bring decades of experience in utility transformation, ensuring every use case is tied to real utility challenges and measurable outcomes. With our expertise, you gain more than technology — you gain a partner who knows how to turn AMI data into value across your entire organization.

Because our specialists focus exclusively on utility systems, we bring deep expertise, proven test scripts, and dedicated tools that accelerate the process and reduce risk—freeing up your team for core operations.

Absolutely. We specialize in testing upgrades, patches, hotfixes, and new system implementations to ensure nothing breaks and everything works as expected before go-live.

No problem. We adapt our testing processes to your utility’s environment, and our flexible methodology applies across a wide range of vendor platforms and custom configurations.

Managed Services are ongoing, outsourced solutions that allow utilities to delegate specialized operations—such as outage management, AMI operations, and customer billing—to industry experts. This helps utilities reduce risk, control costs, and improve performance without overburdening internal teams.

Yes. Each service is designed to be flexible and scalable. We tailor our support to match your utility’s size, systems, and unique needs, ensuring you receive the right level of assistance.

Our team handles the setup and transition process, working alongside your staff to ensure a smooth integration. From there, we provide ongoing monitoring, reporting, and support to keep your operations running at peak performance.

Tier 1 call center agents have limited industry-specific knowledge and primarily serve as notetakers, which can slow down the resolution process and lead to customer frustration. In contrast, Tier 2 contact centers are staffed with agents who have deeper industry expertise. They can effectively triage issues, provide accurate and timely information, and offer meaningful support that builds customer confidence and trust.

Without confirmation of the location of a problem, account status, or confirming it’s an actual outage, other services may deploy truck tolls for internal problems and/or unconfirmed power outages, resulting in wasted time, fuel, labour, and other operational expenses.

With PowerAssist’s shared resource model, you’ll pay the equivalent of a few hours a day for 24/7 service. Agents are shared across utilities, meaning more staff can be added at a moment’s notice to scale your operations for peak volumes during widespread outages.

Most small to mid-sized utilities would typically require a dedicated billing team of 5 to10 staff members. With CustomerAssist’s shared services model, our experienced team supports multiple utilities at once. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality service with fewer dedicated resources. The result is significantly reduced staffing costs without compromising service levels.

CustomerAssist supports billing and customer service for a wide range of commodities, including electricity, water, sewer, stormwater, gas, and HVAC. We also manage other miscellaneous utility types. Our team is well-equipped to handle complex billing scenarios across multiple service types.

CustomerAssist partners with leading enterprise-class CIS providers. Through an Application Service Provider (ASP) model, we deliver advanced CIS capabilities via a secure hosted environment. This approach gives even the smallest utilities access to the same modern, cloud-based technology used by large utilities, without the need to manage infrastructure or assume additional risk.

CustomerAssist currently supports over 250,000 end-user accounts across various utility types. We provide a full range of back-office services- from complete turnkey services to hosted-only IT solutions – tailored to meet each utility’s specific needs.

AI-powered automation helps contact centers respond more quickly, reduce routine workloads, and enhance the overall customer experience. Tools like chatbots and intelligent routing handle common inquiries, connect customers to the right agents, and personalize service based on previous interactions.

Every facility intrusion results in some level of damage with an associated cost:

• Graffiti remediation can range from several hundred to thousands of dollars, depending on the square footage that is marred
• Substation fence repairs (including copper ground replacement) can range from several thousand dollars to tens of thousands, depending on the damage
• Substation structural ground repairs can cost several thousand dollars
• Substation transformer neutral and other conductor repairs can cost in the tens of thousands (substation isolation is required and equipment will need to be tested)
• If a substation fire ensues, damage can range into several hundred thousand dollars

SecureAssist helps you save money by significantly reducing your annual repair costs and lowering operating expenses through the use of advanced, cost-effective security technologies. With Util-Assist’s latest applications and equipment, you avoid large upfront investments in new technology. Outsourcing to SecureAssist is also more economical than managing security in-house, eliminating the need for ongoing staff training, reallocation of internal resources, and the risk of costly mistakes due to unfamiliarity with video monitoring tools.

By handling intrusion triage and daily monitoring, SecureAssist not only protects your assets but also frees your team to focus on their core responsibilities — all while reducing your overall security spend.

SecureAssist saves you valuable time by handling security monitoring, real-time incident triage, and response, allowing your staff to focus on safely and efficiently operating your electricity infrastructure. Our dedicated team ensures faster intervention during incidents, leveraging direct relationships with local police to expedite dispatch without burdening your staff with 911 calls.

With control rooms already stretched thin due to evolving technologies like SCADA, OMS, and AMI, SecureAssist eliminates the need for your highly trained personnel to act as security guards.

We also manage all related paperwork, providing monthly site reports, detailed incident documentation, and court-ready evidence if needed, further reducing administrative workload for your team.

SyncAssist is a managed service that monitors, manages, and optimizes synchronization across your utility’s CIS, AMI head-end, and MDM systems. Our team works as an extension of yours to ensure data accuracy, operational efficiency, and consistent AMI performance.

The service detects and helps resolve synchronization delays, stale meters, validation and estimation exceptions, data mismatches, and other anomalies that can impact billing accuracy. Our specialists proactively investigate and coordinate resolutions with your vendors and internal teams.

SyncAssist includes continuous oversight, daily reporting, and scheduled service reviews (weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly). You’ll receive clear visibility into system health, performance trends, and issue resolution — backed by proactive communication and a dedicated support team focused on your success.