Staff urges replacement or retrofit of failing electric metering system after thousands of monthly read errors

City staff described persistent metering and billing problems that generate hundreds or thousands of errors and require extensive manual reads. "They had 449 errors in July. They had 2,021 errors, warnings in, in July," Jennifer reported when explaining why the city needs a replacement or retrofit of its metering system to restore automated reads and reduce manual work and billing inaccuracies.

Staff said the failed or failing electric AMI hardware and software produces delayed and inaccurate data that creates time-consuming manual corrections, lost revenue, and customer confusion when corrected reads produce higher bills. Council and staff discussed options: retrofitting meter electronics compatible with existing meter bases to save cost, deploying customer portals (Mueller quote referenced at $21,000 for a water portal), and obtaining competitive bids by late August so the city can have numbers before any proposed bond or CO sale. Staff warned that transition to correct readings may produce customer complaints as previously underbilled accounts see increases.