Advanced Metering Infrastructure Comes To Berlin, Omro And Winneconne Areas

Madison, WI - Wisconsin Power and Light Company (WPL), an Alliant Energy company, will be installing Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) in the Berlin, Omro, Winneconne, and surrounding communities over the next several months.

AMI uses remote two-way wireless communication to retrieve detailed customer energy usage information. Once fully operational, AMI will provide the ability to read meters without having to visit the customer property on a regular basis.

"AMI technology will provide improved customer service, reduce overall costs and create a platform for future opportunities," explains John Kratchmer, Vice President of Energy Delivery Operations, Alliant Energy. "Customer benefits include reduced need to access customer property, reduced number of estimated bills and better outage information with quicker power restoration."

Since information is gathered more often, customers can benefit from additional time-based pricing programs to manage their energy use and costs in the future. It will also allow WPL to better forecast energy needs during peak times and improve overall efficiency.

Alliant Energy has contracted with VSI Meter Services to perform the majority of the installations. Those crews will be working in your area throughout the next several months. Electric meters will be replaced, which may cause a brief interruption in electric service. For Alliant Energy gas customers, gas meters are being retrofitted in place with an AMI module which should not cause an interruption in gas service. Customers will be notified by mail prior to their scheduled installation.

Meters will continue to be manually read until the new AMI system has been tested and is fully operational in these areas.

For more information on AMI please visit: alliantenergy.com/ami.

SOURCE: Wisconsin Power and Light Company