OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Columbia Work Session on Advanced Metering Infrastructure - June 9, 2026

Video Archive — Tuesday, June 9, 2026
BodyColumbia, Missouri
SessionVideo Archive
DateTuesday, June 9, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:29:05

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

All right, good evening.

0:01

It's six o'clock.

0:02

And all our Columbia work session to order for June 8th, 2026.

0:08

Our topic tonight is uh electric and it's related to advanced metering uh infrastructure.

0:13

So I'm gonna kick this over to start, I assume, to Aaron Keys with our utilities.

0:20

I better use microphone, right?

0:23

We're recording this.

0:24

Aaron Keys Utilities Director.

0:26

Uh, thank you all for being here on this off Monday.

0:28

Uh, we're talking about advanced metering infrastructure for both water and electric.

0:33

Um tonight, uh, giving our presentation.

0:37

I have Eric Wurtz, who's our engineering supervisor, he is the project manager for this project, and then Chad Nobles from Amoresco and I will let them introduce the rest of the team.

0:48

Uh, but just by show of hands can all the staff people that are here to support this project, raise your hands.

0:55

So this is not a minor project by any stretch of the imagination.

1:00

Um it's a very extensive project, and staff is uh supporting this effort and been very involved in this whole process.

1:09

And Aaron Wait, can I acknowledge that was not just utilities staff?

1:12

That's staff from multiple staff from multiple departments.

1:15

Okay.

1:16

So IT, uh finance, most notably the other departments and utilities.

1:22

Yeah, awesome.

1:23

Thank you.

1:23

So again, we're here to discuss the opportunity to invest in advanced metering infrastructure.

1:32

Uh, it's an opportunity to improve both customer service and reliability for both water and electric.

1:39

So, for example, uh, how many of you know that we don't automatically know when the power is out at your house?

1:48

We rely on you to call us to let us know when the power is out at your house.

1:54

With advanced metering infrastructure, we will know when the power is out at your house.

2:00

Um we've been asked about setting billing dates.

2:06

With the current way that we read meters, we cannot set a billing date.

2:11

With advanced metering infrastructure, we will be able to set billing dates.

2:17

Uh we're a college town.

2:20

We have thousands of college students that move in and move out every year.

2:26

That's hundreds of turn-ons and turnoffs that requires our truck to roll to that residents to run and turn off a meter.

2:36

Uh water leaks.

2:39

Currently, it takes about a month or more for it to show up on your bill, and then you're paying a very large water bill with advanced metering infrastructure.

2:51

We'll be able to set it up, it'll send you an email and say, hey, something weird is going on with your water.

2:56

So these are some of the benefits that we see for our customers and our utilities.

3:02

So staff's been trying to move this forward uh for a couple of years, and it's not as simple as just going out and changing out the meter.

3:12

And so that's what's been taking time is to figure out all the pieces that are involved.

3:18

So it's uh the communication from the meter to the billing system, it's managing the data, uh, it's setting up the customer portal, and thousands of details along the way.

3:32

So, as you listen to this whole project, uh, what we're asking from you tonight is confirmation that we should move forward with this project.

3:43

Um and this investment, and what it'll look like to you is it'll come back as a contract with Amoresco to move forward with this project.

3:54

And so, with that, I'm going to turn it over to Eric, our project manager.

3:59

Oh thanks.

4:03

I'm just gonna give uh Chad the opportunity to introduce his team from ARSCO real quick.

4:10

Thank you all.

4:11

Um I say appreciate you guys allowing us to speak tonight.

4:14

Um, my name's Chad Nobles, I work for Amoresco.

4:17

We've kind of served you know, multiple uh rep roles here tonight.

4:21

One is kind of a consultant, one is kind of the technical expert.

4:25

We don't manufacture meters, we've put them all in.

4:27

Um our team has put in hundreds of these systems.

4:30

I've been working with utilities for over 25 years, and so we've got lots of expertise.

4:34

I do want to call out your staff, has been actually awesome to work with.

4:38

Um, as you can see with the support, very seldom do we get cities your size even that bring all the departments together, and it's critical because the project that we're talking about tonight is gonna touch every citizen and every business.

4:52

And so we got to make sure that that communic is communicated correctly tonight, uh, and is actually, you know, all your questions are answered, so we're here to take questions throughout the process.

5:01

I want to introduce a couple of folks with my team, Dana, is right here.

5:05

He has served as the Missouri senior account executive.

5:08

You've probably seen him at other council meetings before.

5:11

Garrett Luther is our senior project manager.

5:15

He's been doing uh kind of grew up in the world of doing installation.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Technology and Innovation█████████████████████████████████████████████48%
Public Engagement█████████████14%
Water And Wastewater Management████████████13%
Engineering And Infrastructure███████7%
Cybersecurity Planning██████6%
Fiscal Sustainability█████5%
Procedural████4%
Capital Improvement Planning███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Columbia Work Session on Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)

Date: June 9, 2026
Time: 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM (approx.)
Location: Columbia City Council Work Session

This work session was convened to discuss the proposed Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) project for both water and electric utilities. City staff and consultants from Amoresco presented the project scope, costs, benefits, and implementation timeline. Council members asked questions on financing, customer impact, data privacy, and public outreach. The council expressed general support and requested a financing report before a contract vote in September 2026.

Discussion Items

  • Project Overview (Aaron Keys, Utilities Director):

    • AMI will enable automatic outage detection, flexible billing dates, remote turn-on/off, and real-time leak alerts.
    • Currently, the city relies on manual meter reads and customer calls for outages.
    • Staff has been working on the project for two years; the request is for council confirmation to proceed.

  • Technical Presentation (Eric Wurtz, Engineering Supervisor; Chad Nobles, Amoresco):

    • A field survey was conducted: ~70 residential meters tested, hundreds surveyed.
    • Current meters are past useful life; many are failing or have inaccurate reads (average residential water meter accuracy ~96%; low-flow accuracy ~87%).
    • Scope:
      • Electric: replace all ~53,900 electric meters.
      • Water: replace ~33,000 meters, retrofit ~20,000 newer meters with radio modules.
    • New meters have 20-year warranties (water) and solid-state technology with no moving parts.
    • AMI network uses a mesh system with ~50 data collectors on light poles and existing cellular towers.
    • Data is transmitted 4 times per day; packet size is smaller than a text message.
    • A meter data management (MDM) system from Harris (current billing software vendor) will be implemented to handle the increased data volume.

  • Customer and Operational Benefits:

    • Citizens will have a customer portal to view usage, set leak alerts, and receive notifications.
    • Estimated 30-40% reduction in customer service calls.
    • Operational savings: reduced truck rolls for meter reading, turn-ons/offs, and re-reads.
    • Accurate billing (no estimated reads) and potential for future time-of-use or real-time rates.

  • Project Costs and Financing:

    • Total implementation cost: $42.1 million (Amoresco contract + Harris integration fees).
    • Ongoing annual costs: ~$560,000 (AMI network: $170,000; MDM: $330,000; portal integration: $62,000).
    • Construction timeline: ~3 years, with construction starting March 2027.
    • Financing options: bonds (10-year, 3.5% interest) or bank loan (3.75%).
    • Staff presented a pro forma showing positive cash flow from year 1 assuming 4% interest over 15 years, due to revenue gains from meter accuracy and operational savings.
    • Revenue gains: $597,000/year from water/sewer accuracy improvement; ~$1.2 million from electric accuracy (1% gain).
    • Operational savings: $1.15 million/year (estimated from reduced truck rolls, re-reads, etc.).

  • Data Privacy and Cybersecurity:

    • Consumption data is encrypted and transmitted in small packets; no personal identification is stored in the meter or MDM – only account numbers and usage data.
    • City IT director confirmed encryption methods are robust and no known breaches of similar systems.
    • Historical data will be retained for a limited period (e.g., 5 years, similar to current billing data).
    • Opt-out policy: current ordinance allows opt-out with a one-time charge and monthly fee ($35.72/month). Staff prefers to remove the opt-out option and raise fees to cover costs, but this is a policy decision for council.

  • Public Outreach and Installation Process:

    • Amoresco will provide a dedicated on-site construction manager, data team, and community engagement plan.
    • Installations will be scheduled in geographic routes; indoor/commercial meters will be individually scheduled.
    • Critical care patients (e.g., dialysis, oxygen) will be identified and prioritized.
    • No water shutoffs before 8 AM; typical working hours 8 AM–5 PM.
    • A public portal will show real-time progress; pre-notices will be used, but not specific dates due to weather delays.

  • Council Questions and Concerns:

    • Council members asked about the impact on employees (meter readers will be retrained as meter technicians).
    • Concern over potential rate increases: accuracy gains are not rate increases; some customers with old, inaccurate meters may see slightly higher bills.
    • Councillor expressed excitement about real-time use rates for conservation incentives.
    • Councillor requested a comprehensive report on existing bond authority and water/electric capital projects to contextualize this large investment.
    • Council agreed to a financing report before the contract vote in September.

Key Outcomes

  • Council consensus to proceed with the AMI project, pending a formal contract and financing report.
  • Next step: Staff will bring a financing options report to council in advance of the September contract vote.
  • Contract vote expected: Late August/early September 2026, with notice to proceed in mid-September 2026.
  • Construction start: March 2027, with 3-year rollout.
  • Pre-council scheduling: The June 15, 2026 pre-council meeting will start at 4:30 PM to accommodate interviews for Planning & Zoning, Water & Light Advisory Board, and Citizens Police Review Board, followed by a capital improvement plan discussion (estimated 90 minutes).

Meeting Transcript

All right, good evening. It's six o'clock. And all our Columbia work session to order for June 8th, 2026. Our topic tonight is uh electric and it's related to advanced metering uh infrastructure. So I'm gonna kick this over to start, I assume, to Aaron Keys with our utilities. I better use microphone, right? We're recording this. Aaron Keys Utilities Director. Uh, thank you all for being here on this off Monday. Uh, we're talking about advanced metering infrastructure for both water and electric. Um tonight, uh, giving our presentation. I have Eric Wurtz, who's our engineering supervisor, he is the project manager for this project, and then Chad Nobles from Amoresco and I will let them introduce the rest of the team. Uh, but just by show of hands can all the staff people that are here to support this project, raise your hands. So this is not a minor project by any stretch of the imagination. Um it's a very extensive project, and staff is uh supporting this effort and been very involved in this whole process. And Aaron Wait, can I acknowledge that was not just utilities staff? That's staff from multiple staff from multiple departments. Okay. So IT, uh finance, most notably the other departments and utilities. Yeah, awesome. Thank you. So again, we're here to discuss the opportunity to invest in advanced metering infrastructure. Uh, it's an opportunity to improve both customer service and reliability for both water and electric. So, for example, uh, how many of you know that we don't automatically know when the power is out at your house? We rely on you to call us to let us know when the power is out at your house. With advanced metering infrastructure, we will know when the power is out at your house. Um we've been asked about setting billing dates. With the current way that we read meters, we cannot set a billing date. With advanced metering infrastructure, we will be able to set billing dates. Uh we're a college town. We have thousands of college students that move in and move out every year. That's hundreds of turn-ons and turnoffs that requires our truck to roll to that residents to run and turn off a meter. Uh water leaks. Currently, it takes about a month or more for it to show up on your bill, and then you're paying a very large water bill with advanced metering infrastructure. We'll be able to set it up, it'll send you an email and say, hey, something weird is going on with your water. So these are some of the benefits that we see for our customers and our utilities. So staff's been trying to move this forward uh for a couple of years, and it's not as simple as just going out and changing out the meter. And so that's what's been taking time is to figure out all the pieces that are involved. So it's uh the communication from the meter to the billing system, it's managing the data, uh, it's setting up the customer portal, and thousands of details along the way. So, as you listen to this whole project, uh, what we're asking from you tonight is confirmation that we should move forward with this project. Um and this investment, and what it'll look like to you is it'll come back as a contract with Amoresco to move forward with this project. And so, with that, I'm going to turn it over to Eric, our project manager. Oh thanks. I'm just gonna give uh Chad the opportunity to introduce his team from ARSCO real quick. Thank you all. Um I say appreciate you guys allowing us to speak tonight. Um, my name's Chad Nobles, I work for Amoresco. We've kind of served you know, multiple uh rep roles here tonight. One is kind of a consultant, one is kind of the technical expert. We don't manufacture meters, we've put them all in.

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