Over the past several years, meter readers have been faced with a threat to their livelihood -- AMR. That stands for automated meter reading. It's been the buzzword for the way utilities would save time and money by doing readings remotely (that is, with fewer people). But how real is the threat?
Many utilities have made the move to AMR, at least for part of their operations. Jean Spencer supervises the water meter reading department in Plano, Texas. "Meter reading for utilities is a career in decline," says Spencer.
"More and more utilities rely on electronic remote meter reading. Transmitters are attached to the meters and they send a signal with the meter reading to a receiver in a passing vehicle or over telephone or power lines. Deployment of this technology is increasing rapidly."
Jim Teeter is a former manager of a meter reading department in California. He agrees that AMR has affected career opportunities for meter readers.
"A little over 20 million meters in the U.S. are now read by automatic equipment," he says. "But most of the deployments of AMR have been in very high-cost areas where the AMR costs may have been lower than the costs of meter readers and their vehicles and equipment."
A recent article in Metering International magazine described an area in Louisiana where the utility had to send meter readers in boats to read the meters in areas inaccessible any other way. Several readers were spending about nine hours to read 100 meters.
AMR made sense for this company in this area. It was also safer for the meter readers.
"The rush to install AMR universally has ended, in my opinion," says Teeter. "It's just far too costly to deploy everywhere at the present time. Costs of technology are not declining rapidly like they have in many other electronics industries.
"Overall, I believe AMR is changing the profession rather than ending it. One day in the fairly distant future, certainly more than 10 years, the number of meter readers will probably be 90 percent lower than today.
"But the number of new positions and opportunities elsewhere will likely offset that loss. There aren't as many secretaries or word processors today as there were 20 years ago, but there sure are an awful lot of staff assistants and associates and analyst positions that didn't exist 20 years ago, too, aren't there?"
Gary Marx works with a water utility. "I know it's still in its infancy," he says.
"It's my personal opinion that automation through the use of technology is inevitable. Someone looking at a career in meter reading should expect to continuously upgrade his or her technical skills to meet the requirements of this emerging technology."
Still, those in the profession seem to enjoy it. Bryan Hipley of California likes the freedom, fresh air and exercise, among other things. "I think the best advice for anyone considering this job is to remember that it's a simple job, but it's not easy. It is imperative that we work safely and take care of ourselves. A meter reader is an athlete. We have to take care of our bodies, especially our feet."