New technologies and electric deregulation have opened the door to a variety of options for measuring and monitoring power use at customers' facilities. An avalanche of choice, however, can sometimes become a pile of confusion. Changes to metering methods and needs have complicated determining what kind of metering system may be appropriate. Applying this technology in a coordinated and knowledgeable manner can, however, provide energy savings and better building system control.
The expense of such systems and relatively low demand charges (in most of the United States), limited AMR to only a very small portion of the customer base (less than 1%). California's original deregulation plan called for interval meters for all customers with peak demands of only 20 kW (later changed to 50 kW) to allow power pricing based on the hourly spot market. The door was also opened (in both California and a few other deregulating states) to competition for metering services at the sales/installation and meter reading levels.