Fallstudie
At a glance:
- Midstate Electric is one of the most progressive, innovative rural electric cooperatives in the Northwest USA, serving over 18,000 customers in central Oregon.
- Midstate Electric is installing approximately 100 REX® meters per month and implementing plans to replace all its pre-existing meters with REX meters over the coming years.
The EnergyAxis System was selected because it performs well in the extremes of weather and geography in the area, is easy to install and provides significant data for analyzing the distribution system.
The challenge:
Midstate Electric needed a solution that would perform well in their region, especially in the winter months, in areas of dense tree growth and with snow covered trees.
An additional need was for a solution that would provide monthly billing reads and daily load profile data.
Ease of installation with no additional infrastructure costs was also a critical factor.
The solution:
Elster Electricity’s EnergyAxis System has A3 ALPHA® meter collectors with an RS-232 interface available, so Midstate Electric Cooperative was able to us its existing INET IP- addressable radios to provide an RS-232 over Ethernet communication protocol for system data collection.
An initial installation of over 500 REX meters in a trail stage led to the decision to expand the installation with over 100 REX meters now being installed on a new construction and plans to replace all pre-existing meters with REX meters over the coming years.
“Midstate Electric Cooperative has used the trial system for load studies looking at voltage drop, transformer loading and service requirements in our new subdivisions. The system has sold itself!” said Gary Logsdon, Midstate Electric Cooperative’s Meterman.
“The ease of installation of the EnergyAxis System has sold us. It has proven extremely reliable and has exceeded all our expectations”, said Midstate’s Senior Meterman Tim Judd. “This system is so simple and the amount of information available makes it the best buy for our metering dollars.”