Local News – Monday, April 27th, 2020

City of Salem City Administrator Ray Walden issued a press release on Friday, April 24th addressing the history of the City of Salem AMI project and utility billing delays. In the press release, Walden explains that in 2019, the board of aldermen approved a recommendation to proceed with the proposal by Nexgrid for an AMI Network with city employees installing the electric meters, and quotes would be solicited for a contractor to install new water meters and modules that turned out to be Second Sight Systems. After that, representatives from Nexgrid worked with the city utility staff to finalize the design for a system that would meet the city’s requirements. The city then ordered 2,600 electric meters and 2,200 water meters and modules. The modules the city used had to be programmed before they were shipped to Salem. The electric meters were installed first as they provided the part of the network that the water meter modules would connect to. The water meter and module installation followed. But some of the data captured from the old and new meters did not sync with the city’s existing system. This required unexpected manual steps to correct. As soon as the issues were identified, they were communicated to the installer’s project management team. The issues were related to the meter serial numbers and the service addresses obtained in the installation process as they needed to match up correctly to what was in the old billing system so that the new system could properly populate data into the city’s billing system. Walden states the correcting of the data sync issues sometimes involved accessing account and service information in both the existing billing system and the new AMI system. Service personnel also occasionally needed to have meter numbers and service locations confirmed in the field. Walden estimates the project to date has required about an additional 200 man hours of staff time over what was originally planned. The issues causing the first billing delay started with what would have been the normal November 2019 bill that was processed in December of 2019. City staff continued to work on the data issues with the next utility bills being processed in February of 2020. The city did provide notice on social media and through regular media outlets in both cases that utility bills would be delayed. Walden reports the next bill cycle was processed in April 2020 using the final manual reads of meters that have been replaced with the new AMI meters. Most of the May bill cycle will come from the new AMI system with regular monthly bill cycles expected after that. The final shipment of water meters was delayed due to supplier issues and the shipment of the remaining modules was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Delivery of the remaining modules is expected before the end of April with the contractor returning as soon as possible to complete the installation. The original cost of the project was estimated to be $1.4 million dollars and the project is expected to come in under budget. A benefit of the AMI system is utility customers can ask for detailed data of the electric and water usage they consume and that includes identifying potential leaks and excessive electric usage. Once the system is fully installed and functional, a customer portal will be opened where each individual can access their consumption and billing history, and provide the ability to pay online or over the phone. The city is also looking at the possibility of e-billing and options to support that program. Walden states in the release that the city realizes the interruption of regular billing cycles has represented an inconvenience to its customers. The delays have compounded the prior existing backlog between usage and billing. With the new AMI system providing the capability of billing to reflect more recent consumption, the city will be offering their customers some options after the city’s COVID-19 Emergency Declaration expires. These options include a discount to get current (not yet determined,) budget billing and pay as you go (or prepaid electric usage). The city is preparing letters to customers that will provide more specific information. The city appreciates the public’s understanding and cooperation during this transition. Walden wanted to let Salem businesses know that if they need documented utility usage for meeting their SBA COVID-19 assistance requirements, or if anyone has questions about their account, please call the utility office at 729-4117.

A special closed meeting of the Salem R-80 board of education to discuss personnel will be held this evening at 6:00 in the district administrative offices board room. After approval of the agenda the board will adjourn and move into executive session to discuss personnel pursuant to RSMO 610.021 before adjourning.