The Elster AMI deployment is said to be the first phase of the CPWS smart grid initiative, scheduled to be rolled out over the next five years. CPWS will deploy approximately 25,000 Elster smart electricity meters and 25,000 smart water meters.
EnergyAxis will provide bi-directional communication between the smart meters and the CPWS home office via the utility’s existing wide area network (WAN). Backhaul communications will be conducted over the CPWS broadband fiber optic network or over cellular wireless networks for remote meter locations.
Elster said that EnergyAxis will integrate with the existing WAN, enabling CPWS to perform remote meter readings, improve distribution automation and manage outages. Elster will work with supply chain partner Wesco Distribution to deliver the smart electricity meters to CPWS.
