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City advances smart-meter rollout; Badger Orion endpoints installed, Ion Water app onboarding begins
Summary
City staff reported progress on the automated metering infrastructure project: about 5,000 meters had been replaced by mid-December in Route 4, funded by CIP and a WIFA grant. Staff acknowledged customer concerns about radio transmission and identified cellular coverage gaps in some outlying neighborhoods.
City of Prescott utilities staff on Jan. 7 updated the subcommittee on the automated metering infrastructure (AMI) project, reporting steady installations, grant funding and outreach plans to help customers use new smart-meter data.
Utilities Manager Steve Holford and Water Operations Superintendent Nathan Graham said the meter-replacement program began in March 2023 and uses Badger Orion cellular endpoints to replace a patchwork of older meters and an Itron drive-by read system. Staff reported roughly 25,800 meters in the system overall and that Route 4 (the Thumb Butte/Iron Springs area) had about 4,739 replaced as of Dec. 12 and exceeded 5,000 replacements by the Jan. 7 presentation.
Graham said the project is funded with roughly $12.5 million from capital improvement funds and a Water Infrastructure Finance Authority (WIFA) grant that required a 25 percent match; staff reported about $3.5 million expended with approximately $1.6 million reimbursed to date. The project goal includes a customer-facing portal (Ion Water) to let residents view usage, set leak alerts and monitor conservation progress; staff reported about 427 customers already registered on Ion Water.
Staff acknowledged common customer concerns and operational issues. They said the city does not offer an opt-out for the cellular endpoint installations and that meters are city property. When residents raise health concerns, staff provide literature about radio-frequency levels and note that transmissions are brief and infrequent (staff cited “milliseconds” per packet, about four packets per day). Staff also reported about 15 meters out of the 5,000 were communicating more slowly, primarily in areas with spotty cellular coverage such as Wildwood.
Staff said the program should complete Route 4 in early 2025, move to Route 1 thereafter, and continue through 2026–2027 to finish all routes; Route 3 (the largest route) contains many newer meters and will be completed later. Outreach includes letters, door hangers and planned customer assistance to set up Ion Water accounts; staff proposed conservation office hours to help customers interpret smart-meter reports.
The subcommittee received the update as informational; no formal action was taken.
