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Fulton County launches pilot to activate 6,000 AMI‑capable water meters to curb billing errors
Summary
Public Works proposed a phased AMI rollout: install two collectors to activate about 6,000 existing AMI‑capable meters (37,000 already AMI‑capable countywide) with a one‑time pilot cost of roughly $45,000 and anticipated annual meter‑reading savings of about $83,000; full conversion estimated in the tens of millions.
Fulton County’s public works director told commissioners on June 17 that the county is prepared to begin a phased pilot to read advanced metering infrastructure (AMI)‑capable water meters remotely as a way to reduce estimated bills and improve accuracy.
David Clark said the county has about 80,000 water meters overall and that approximately 37,000 of them are AMI capable because the county has purchased AMI‑capable meters since 2016 but had not yet activated the remote reading function. Clark proposed installing two collector radios on existing water towers (Alpharetta and Jones Bridge areas) to remotely read about 6,000 of those meters. He estimated the pilot would cost about $45,000 (approximately $10,000 to install the collectors and $35,000 to update software licensing) and yield roughly $83,000 a year in avoided manual reading fees for those 6,000 meters.
Clark described a phased approach after testing, noting that a full conversion of the remaining AMI‑capable and manual meters could require tens of millions of dollars and might be paired with a future bond sale or the 2027 rate study. He also said AMI would support customer‑facing features, like hourly usage history and leak alerts, but said the county is weighing whether to make those features available during a phased rollout.
Commissioners asked about per‑meter hardware cost, coverage by additional towers (the county has nine towers that could expand coverage), and the timeline for pilot implementation; Clark said an AMI capable meter costs roughly $350–$400 and installation another $400–$500, and that the first phase could be implemented this summer or early fall 2026.
What’s next: staff plans a pilot installation and will report back on early operational results and cost‑benefit analysis during the rate study process.
