5.5 EMRUSR 02-11-2025��i
Elk River
Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO:
FROM:
ERMU Commission
Mike Tietz —Technical Services Superintendent
MEETING DATE:
AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
February 11, 2025
5.5
SUBJECT:
Advanced Metering Infrastructure Update
ACTION REQUESTED:
None
DISCUSSION:
As of February 3, Allegiant has completed 4,016 residential water meter replacements and 447
retrofits. With the slowdown in appointments, Allegiant will reduce staffing to two water
technicians working for the remainder of our project. ERMU began contacting customers via
call capture and direct mail postcards to inform them about scheduling appointments.
Customers were notified that their meter must be replaced by April 1 to avoid incurring
additional fees. The residential water meter exchange work is approximately 72.5% complete.
To date we have made 67 residential repairs utilizing master plumber Karsten Nelson (Archer
Plumbing) with a running total of $23,610.36 in repair costs. This is about a 1.55% repair rate
based on the total number of installed water meters. In April 2024, the Commission voted to
absorb these residential costs at an estimate of $300 per job for approximately 100-150 homes,
totaling between $30-$45K.
Allegiant's commercial meter subcontractor (Archer Plumbing) has completed 112 commercial
meter replacements and 32 retrofits as of February 3. The commercial water meter exchange
work is about 31% complete.
As of February 3, Allegiant has completed 5,335 residential electric meter replacements. Due to
an inventory delay, Allegiant will be reducing staff to two technicians on the project. Both
electric technicians are able to provide backup for the water technicians. The residential electric
meter exchange work is about 46% completed. Installations are being performed Monday
through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
We have been informed the remainder of our residential electric meters will arrive around the
end of February. We have received 24 first article commercial electric meters and we are
testing and verifying that the meter programming is correct. ERMU staff will be utilized for all
commercial installations. Overall, approximately 64% of the total available Advanced Metering
Infrastructure meters have been installed.
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