A simplified financial model for automatic meter reading

Journal Article · Sat Jan 15 00:00:00 EST 1994 · Fortnightly; (United States)

OSTI ID:5312796

Ward, S M ^[1]

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1. Schlumberger Industries, Norcross, GA (United States)

The financial model proposed here (which can be easily adapted for electric, gas, or water) combines aspects of [open quotes]life cycle,[close quotes] [open quotes]consumer value[close quotes] and [open quotes]revenue based[close quotes] approaches and addresses intangible benefits. A simple value tree of one-word descriptions clarifies the relationship between level of investment and level of value, visually relating increased value to increased cost. The model computes the numerical present values of capital costs, recurring costs, and revenue benefits over a 15-year period for the seven configurations: manual reading of existing or replacement standard meters (MMR), manual reading using electronic, hand-held retrievers (EMR), remote reading of inaccessible meters via hard-wired receptacles (RMR), remote reading of meters adapted with pulse generators (RMR-P), remote reading of meters adapted with absolute dial encoders (RMR-E), offsite reading over a few hundred feet with mobile radio (OMR), and fully automatic reading using telephone or an equivalent network (AMR). In the model, of course, the costs of installing the configurations are clearly listed under each column. The model requires only four annualized inputs and seven fixed-cost inputs that are rather easy to obtain.

• OSTI ID: 5312796
• Journal Information: Fortnightly; (United States), Vol. 132:2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
COST ESTIMATION
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEMS
AUTOMATION
POWER METERS
PUBLIC UTILITIES
ELECTRIC MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
METERS
SIMULATION
290201* - Energy Planning & Policy- Economics- (1992-)