Project Scope

Meralco initiated a project to improve the service for their bulk tariff customers (>1MVA) by monitoring the customers' Energy Usage Conditions and send Email alarms when their demands went over a pre-defined setpoint. This project was to help customers get better management of their load profile to reduce Peak Demand Surcharges. On the other hand, Utility could control the demand within the designed capacity to avoid over-loading.

Challenge

Most of the monitoring locations were in remote areas with no landline or internet access. Wireless solution was the only option. However, the signal coverage in remote area was a major concern and the signal strength might vary with weather. Besides, the communication cost was another concern too.

Solution & Result

CET provided the solution for connecting the remote meters through different 3G networks. Given cost constraint, 3G APN network with private IP was recommended, instead of using static public IP. In considering the instability of signal strength, CET suggested to use the meters with data logging capabilities (PMC-630E), which could store data in non-volatile memory to avoid data loss in case of connection failure.