Outage management through AMR systems using an intelligent data filter

Automatic meter reading (AMR) is. the remote collection of consumption data from customers' utility meters over telecommunication, radio, power-line a nd other links. Electric utilities are exploring the usage of AMR data for outage management for distribution systems. Signals from automated meters c an provide additional information in the outage detection and determination processes as well as restoration phases of outage management. However due to its low quality, AMR outage data cannot be fed directly into outage mana gement systems. This paper details the development of an intelligent inform ation filter for automated metering systems. The filter prevents false outa ge notifications in addition to improving the quality of outage data. The n ature of wireless communication in the AMR system introduces uncertainty is sues in the query process. This uncertainty has been modeled using probabil istic and fuzzy engineering techniques. The filter has also been tested usi ng historical outage data.