Albany Utilities reports 88% AMI deployment; 12% of meters remain amid access and safety issues

Albany Utilities staff told the Utility Board on April 10 that the systemwide rollout of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) is about 88% complete and that the remaining roughly 11,000 exchanges are concentrated where technicians face hard access, unsafe meter cabinets or customer refusal.

Kendall Hodge, staff member leading the deployment update, told the board, “There is no opt out option…At the end of deployment, all the utility customers will have an AMI meter.” He said Albany has exchanged 78,720 meters of an active population now listed at 89,831, and that staff removed roughly 2,116 inactive or abandoned meter records during final account scrubbing.

The board heard a commodity-level breakdown: water accounts total 38,861 with 32,718 exchanged (about 84%); electric accounts total 34,805 with 32,331 exchanged (93%); and gas had 2,494 remaining from a larger total. H2O (the water contractor identified in the presentation) will perform about 3,700 of the remaining water replacements; Albany Utilities staff will handle larger meter sizes and complicated installs.

Staff described three recurring obstacles to finishing deployment: (1) meter-cabinet conditions that pose safety risks, (2) homes or properties hard to access or where residents deny entry, and (3) customer nonresponse after repeated attempts to schedule exchanges. On safety, Hodge explained that some meter cabinet lugs were degraded or charred and that AMI meters include safety features that will not be installed where cabinet conditions are hazardous. Technicians leave a door card explaining findings and provide a 15-business-day window for customers to hire a licensed electrician; a list of licensed electricians is linked on the city’s AMI webpage.

The board was given counts for cabinet repairs and reimbursements: staff have identified 232 meter locations requiring cabinet repairs and have received about 232 invoices from roughly 210 customers; reimbursed amounts year to date total approximately $143,311 for meter-box repairs. Hodge reminded the board that last year the board approved offsetting part of those repair costs “up to $800.”

Angela Sowell, AMI system manager, described how the new meters improve operational monitoring and customer notifications. “When the system…indicates that there is a continuous flow, the notifications will be sent out to customers whether it’s via phone, text, or email, letting them know, ‘Hey, this is what we have seen,’ ” she said, adding that customers who register for the customer portal or a future mobile app can receive real-time usage information and set alerts.

Staff reported outreach steps to address access and nonresponse: about 1,300 certified letters were mailed to customers with multiple failed attempts to allow exchanges; of one batch (768 returned records), staff recorded 546 customers (71%) who responded and scheduled appointments, 94 who had not scheduled, and additional cases requiring further repair work. Hodge said no disconnections have been performed to date; 55 accounts were flagged as currently eligible for disconnection if they remain nonresponsive after another notice. He told the board staff will send an additional letter as a final good-faith effort before referring cases for further action.

On budget, the presentation showed a project appropriation of $22.6 million and an expected expenditure of about $23.3 million, a preliminary overrun of about $706,000 attributable to unforeseen repair contractor work and extended project duration. Board members later noted the commission amended the project budget in January and that the current position is roughly $250,000 favorable to the revised appropriation; staff said they will reconcile and present updated budget figures as requested.

Board members and staff discussed next steps: standing up an AMI operations team for steady-state support, considering a short-term contractor engagement to complete roughly 1,300 gas meter retrofits (preliminary quotes in the $50,000–$75,000 range were cited), holding public town halls (scheduled for April 19–20), promoting the customer portal and a proposed mobile app, and formalizing notification and credit policies for customers whose in-home issues are identified after meter exchange.

The presentation emphasized that AMI data will reduce estimated reads, improve outage and voltage diagnostics and provide tools to help customers detect leaks and high usage. Hodge said extended deployment raises operational costs and staffing impacts and that a small share of customers who refuse access may ultimately face service interruption after the board and city leadership complete legal and policy review.

Votes at a glance: the only formal vote recorded during the session was approval of the minutes from the April 10, 2025 meeting. The board approved the minutes unanimously during roll call.

The board scheduled continued public outreach and directed staff to return with updated budget reconciliation and recommended next steps for completing the final 12% of meter exchanges.