Tuscaloosa council hears update on smart‑meter (AMI) rollout; city about halfway through phase

City staff provided an update on the city’s automatic meter infrastructure (AMI) project during the council meeting, saying the program has converted about 10,600 meters in phase 2 and is more than halfway complete.

“AMI is basically we we have a project converting all our meters to smart meters, which means, basically, they can instead of somebody having to manually go out and read them, they will transmit that data through a communication infrastructure directly to us,” said Brian Kearney, city staff, describing the technology and its intended benefits.

Kearney said the city has roughly 55,000 meters in the system, and that phase 1 converted about 5,600 meters in house. The current, contracted phase 2 covered 19,000 meters; the contractor has converted roughly 10,600 and is changing about 500 meters per week. “That projects to finishing this phase, phase 2 in October,” Kearney said, adding that phase 3—expected to be about 26,000 meters—is funded through the 2024 B bond and will be brought to the council for approval in mid‑August.

Council members asked about customer notifications and installer procedures. Kearney said the city mails postcards two weeks before a scheduled conversion and that installers will knock on the door, explain the work, and leave a doorhanger if the customer is not home. If an installer detects water is being used at the meter, they record that and return later rather than proceed.

Council members also raised a specific concern about one meter that appeared to have been disconnected while work was underway. Kearney asked for the address and said he would follow up. He also said he can email a map showing progress to the council. Councilman Buzz asked Kearney to bring maps and an updated status when staff returns to the council in the fall.

Council members asked about program cost and staffing. Kearney estimated total program spending in the neighborhood of $30,000,000 (characterized as a ballpark figure during the meeting) and said the city employs about 16 meter readers; he said natural attrition and retraining could reduce the number of meter‑reading positions as technology changes job duties. On potential operational benefits Kearney said AMI would provide hourly data (rather than one monthly reading) to help with operational efficiency and customer service.

Kearney said a small number of complaints have been received but that the installer is “doing a good job.” He also noted an observed disconnected meter and agreed to investigate after a council member provided an address.

The council asked Kearney to return with maps and a further status update as the city prepares phase 3 contracting and implementation.