Consultants present advanced‑metering plan; model shows multi‑year payback but potential system benefits

Consultants from the Spiegler Group presented an AMI and system‑modernization assessment that modeled customer‑facing and system‑facing upgrades around remote metering, leak detection and data management. The team said the full modernization package — metering, leak detection, response management and some system upgrades — could require several hundred thousand dollars up front (presenters modeled a multi‑year, phased capital plan) but would yield operational benefits and a modeled payback horizon in the order of about 10 years.