REPORT

ON
Smart Meters and Advanced Metering Infrastructure

SUBMITTED BY: SUBMITTED TO:

JITENDRA(11510308) SHASHI BHUSHAN SIR
PRATEEK(11510323)
ASHOK(11510338)
INTRODUCTION TO SMART METERS

A Smart meter is a clever new gas or electricity meter that

automatically sends meter readings to us.

That means no more torch lit meter readings, no more estimated

bills* and a much better chance of saving money on your energy
– good news all round.

A Smart meter records the energy you use and sends it to us and
to a handheld Smart energy display in your home. Put your Smart
energy display somewhere where you can keep an eye on it and
it’ll give you an idea of what you’re paying for your energy and,
hopefully, help you see where you could save money.

There are 3 parts to your new Smart meter system:

1.Smart gas meter

Records the gas you use continuously and updates your display
every 30 mins.

2.Smart electricity meter

Updates every 10 seconds to give near instantaneous usage info
on your display.

3.Smart Energy Display

Shows your energy use in pounds and pence, with day, week or
month comparisons.
PURPOSE OF SMART METERS :-
Since the inception of electricity deregulation and market-driven
pricing throughout the world, utilities have been looking for a
means to match consumption with generation. Non-smart
electrical and gas meters only measure total consumption,
providing no information of when the energy was
consumed. Smart meters provide a way of measuring this site-
specific information, allowing utility companies to charge different
prices for consumption according to the time of day and the
season.
Utility companies say that smart metering offers potential benefits
to householders. These include, a) an end to estimated bills,
which are a major source of complaints for many customers b) a
tool to help consumers better manage their energy purchases—
stating that smart meters with a display outside their homes could
provide up-to-date information on gas and electricity consumption
and in doing so help people to manage their energy use and
reduce their energy bills. Electricity pricing usually peaks at
certain predictable times of the day and the season. In particular,
if generation is constrained, prices can rise if power from other
jurisdictions or more costly generation is brought online.
Proponents assert that billing customers at a higher rate for peak
times encourages consumers to adjust their consumption habits
to be more responsive to market prices and assert further, that
regulatory and market design agencies hope these "price signals"
could delay the construction of additional generation or at least
the purchase of energy from higher priced sources, thereby
controlling the steady and rapid increase of electricity prices
.There are some concerns, however, that low income and
vulnerable consumers may not benefit from intraday time-of-use
tariffs.
 ADVANCED METERING INFRASRUCTURE(A.M.I)

INTRODUCTION:
AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) is the collective term to
describe the whole infrastructure from Smart Meter to two way-
communication network to control center equipment and all the
applications that enable the gathering and transfer of energy usage
information in near real-time. AMI makes two-way communications
with customers possible and is the backbone of smart grid. The
objectives of AMI can be remote meter reading for error free data,
network problem identification, load profiling, energy audit and
partial load curtailment in place of load shedding.

Building Blocks of AMI

AMI is comprised of various hardware and software components,
all of which play a role in measuring energy consumption and
transmitting information about energy, water and gas usage to
utility companies and customers. The overarching technological
components of AMI include:

 Smart Meters- Advanced meter devices having the capacity

to collect information about energy, water, and gas usage at
various intervals and transmitting the data through fixed
communication networks to utility, as well as receiving
information like pricing signals from utility and conveying it to
consumer.
 Communication Network: Advanced communication
networks which supports two way communication enables
information from smart meters to utility companies and vice-
versa. Networks such as Broadband over PowerLine (BPL),
Power Line Communications, Fiber Optic Communication,
Fixed Radio Frequency or public networks (e.g., landline,
cellular, paging) are used for such purposes.
 Meter Data Acquisition System- Software applications on
the Control Centre hardware and the DCUs (Data
Concentrator Units) used to acquire data from meters via
communication network and send it to the MDMS
 Meter Data Management System (MDMS): Host system
which receives, stores and analyzes the metering
information.

BENEFITS OF A.M.I :-
The benefits of AMI are multifold and can be generally
categorized as:

1.Operational Benefits – AMI benefits the entire grid by

improving the accuracy of meter reads, energy theft detection and
response to power outages, while eliminating the need for on-site
meter reading.

2.Financial Benefits – AMI brings financial gains to utility, water

and gas companies by reducing equipment and maintenance
costs, enabling faster restoration of electric service during
outages and streamlining the billing process.

3.Customer Benefits – AMI benefits electric customers by

detecting meter failures early, accommodating faster service
restoration, and improving the accuracy and flexibility of billing.
Further, AMI allows for time-based rate options that can help
customers save money and manage their energy consumption.

3.Security Benefits-AMI technology enables enhanced

monitoring of system resources, which mitigates potential threats
on the grid by cyber-terrorist networks.

A.M.I . PROTOCOLS,STANDARDS AND INITIATIVES:-

For most of the history of the electricity industry, the area of metering
has not seen major policy issues or developments. Those issues that did
develop dealt with areas such as meter accuracy testing, frequency of
billing, and other aspects of the meter reading function. Most of these
were addressed via state legislation or regulation. There was little, if
any, federal policy enacted with respect to metering. Given that
metering is part of the infrastructure of a regulated utility, and is in part
a capital expense, metering investments by utilities have always been
subject to the approval of policy makers. But this has mainly come in
the form of specific approvals via rate cases and other policy
proceedings. While involving policy makers, the proceedings to deal
with costs have not been generic policy proceedings. In the 1990’s as a
number of states moved to restructure their electricity industry to
make the commodity subject to competitive retail markets, some
states, notably New York and Texas, went further and “unbundled” or
opened up distribution services such as metering for competition. The
intent of this policy was to spur the introduction of advanced meters
faster than the regulated system appeared to be deploying them.

Competitive metering did not work very well. The costs of ad hoc
metering deployment (i.e. where meters are put in sporadically and
with no geographic cohesion or proximity) proved to be 5 to 10 times
the cost per meter as compared to a mass deployment by the utility.
Competitive metering policy had even worse impacts on the
deployment of advanced metering.
FEDERAL POLICY : The first major federal policy on electricity metering
was enacted in 2005. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT) contained a
Section entitled “Smart Metering.” The Section put in place the
following policy: • Requirement on states and non-regulated utilities to
investigate and consider providing Time-Based Rates and Advanced
Metering to all consumers. • Requirement that FERC conduct an annual
assessment on demand response and advanced metering, which would
include among other things, a national survey to determine the
penetration and saturation of advanced metering. • Requirement that
DOE issue a report to Congress on demand response potential, together
with recommendations on how to use policy to overcome barriers to
advanced metering and demand response. • Requirement that all
Federal Buildings be equipped with advanced metering.

STATE POLICY: As is the case at the Federal level, States have begun to
move in recent years to put policy in place that directly or indirectly
affects the metering area. Much of it has come in response to the
EPACT investigation requirement noted in the previous section. In some
cases, States had initiated policy efforts prior to EPACT; in other cases,
States have decided not to strictly implement the EPACT requirement
but have instead set other policies in place or in motion to move the
state forward on demand response and advanced metering. Many
states have begun pilot programs that incorporate demand response
and advanced metering. Among the states that are notable for their
self-initiated efforts are New York, Texas, Connecticut and California.
NEED OF A.M.I. IN SMART GRID:-

Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), also commonly referred

to as smart meters or simply advanced metering, is one of the key
technologies required to enable several of the Smart Grid
characteristics .The various needs of AMI in smart grid are as
listed below:

1)To Enable active participation by consumers.

2)To Accommodate all generation and storage options.

3)To Enable new products, services and markets.

4)To Provide power quality for the range of needs in a digital

economy.

5)To Optimize asset utilization and operating efficiency.

6)To Anticipate and respond to system disturbances in a self-

healing manner.

7) To Operate resiliently against physical and cyber-attacks, and

natural disasters.
PHASOR MEASUREMENT UNIT:-

A phasor measurement unit (PMU) is a device used to estimate

the magnitude and phase angle of an electrical Phasor quantity
like voltage or current in the electricity grid using a common
time source for synchronization. Time synchronization is usually
provided by GPS and allows synchronized real-time
measurements of multiple remote measurement points on the
grid. PMUs are capable of capturing samples from a waveform
in quick succession and reconstruct the Phasor quantity. The
resulting measurement is known as a synchrophasor. These
devices can also be used to measure the frequency in the
power grid. A typical commercial PMU can report
measurements with very high temporal resolution in the order
of 30-60 measurements per second. This helps engineers in
analyzing dynamic events in the grid which is not possible with
traditional SCADA measurements that generate one
measurement every 2 or 4 seconds. Therefore, PMUs equip
utilities with enhanced monitoring and control capabilities and
are considered to be one of the most important measuring
devices in the future of power systems. A PMU can be a
dedicated device, or the PMU function can be incorporated into
a protective relay or other device.
Applications:-

1.Power system automation, as in smart grids

2.Load shedding and other load control techniques such as
demand response mechanisms to manage a power system. (i.e.
Directing power where it is needed in real-time)
3.Increase the reliability of the power grid by detecting faults
early, allowing for isolation of operative system, and the
prevention of power outages.
4.Increase power quality by precise analysis and automated
correction of sources of system degradation.
5.Wide area measurement and control through state estimation,
in very wide area super grids, regional transmission networks,
and local distribution grids.
6.Phasor measurement technology and synchronized time
stamping can be used for Security improvement through
synchronized encryptions like trusted sensing base. Cyber attack
recognition by verifying data between the SCADA system and the
PMU data.
7.Distribution State Estimation and Model Verification. Ability to
calculate impedances of loads, distribution lines, verify voltage
magnitude and delta angles based on mathematical state models.
8.Event Detection and Classification. Events such as various
types of faults, tap changes, switching events, circuit protection
devices. Machine learning and signal classification methods can
be used to develop algorithms to identify these significant events.
9.Microgrid applications––islanding or deciding where to detach
from the grid, load and generation matching, and
resynchronization with the main grid
INTELLIGENT ELECTRONIC DEVICES:-
An Intelligent Electronic Device (IED) is a term used in the
electric power industry to describe microprocessor-based
controllers of power system equipment, such as circuit
breakers, transformers and capacitor banks.
 IEDs receive data from sensors and power equipment and can
issue control commands, such as tripping circuit breakers if they
sense voltage, current, or frequency anomalies, or raise/lower
voltage levels in order to maintain the desired level. Common
types of IEDs include protective relaying devices, On Load Tap
Changer controllers, circuit breaker controllers, capacitor bank
switches, recloser controllers, voltage regulators etc. This is
generally controlled by a setting file. The testing of setting files is
typically one of the most time consuming roles of a protection
tester.

Digital protective relays are primarily IEDs, using a

microprocessor to perform several protective, control and similar
functions. A typical IED can contain around 5-12 protection
functions, 5-8 control functions controlling separate devices, an
autoreclose function, self-monitoring function, communication
functions etc. Hence, they are aptly named as Intelligent
Electronic Devices.

Applications of IEDs:-

Protection

IED consist of different types of protection system

according to its application or use. Generally following protection
will be provided by IED

1. Over / Under voltage

2. Over current
3. Harmonic
4. Differential protection
5. Over temperature

IED also able to provide protection for particular device separately

like

1. Generator
2. Circuit breaker
3. Transformer
4. By controller
5. Auxiliary equipment

Control

IED can be use as Power Factor Controller, auto voltage

controller, by controller etc. Also IED can be controlled by operator
from any remote place either in normal condition as well as in
abnormal condition.
1. Power factor controller – IED is connected to capacitor bank,
IED sense the power factor and connect capacitors as per
requirement. Which keep power factor unity, thus overall power
factor of systems get increases.
2. Voltage regulator – IED is also connected to on line tab changer
of transformer and changes the tabs according variation in supply
voltage.

Metering

IED continuously records all data of electrical parameter

consist of Active power, Reactive power also measures energy
(KWH) consumed by the consumer. IED also helps for Time of day
tariff, which is the measure advantage of IED that it records power
consumed at different time of day (hourly).
Communication

IED’s are able to communicate with multiple channels at a

time. It continuously sends data to system server which consists of
all electrical and physical parameter. According to IEC 61850 two
different IED’s are able to communicate with each other also. The
range of frequencies used by this IED is 50khz to 500khz.

Monitoring

IED continuously monitor different parameter as shown in table 1,

Generally IED monitor first only four input voltage from PT’s,
current from CT’s, power factor, and frequency. By using this data
IED calculate different values as shown in table and send it to
server.
REFERENCES:-
1. L. Wenpeng, "Advanced Metering Infrastructure", Southern
Power System Technology
2. “Smart Grid : Fundamentals of Design and Analysis”, James A,
Momoh,2012
3. Wikipedia
4.IEEE Xplore