Sweetwater Authority holds off on full AMI rollout amid $174k meter procurement

Sweetwater Authority holds off on full AMI rollout amid $174k meter procurementThe California utility is purchasing over 1,100 AMI-ready Neptune meters to maintain its 15-year replacement cycle but will defer a system-wide cellular upgrade due to module costs reaching up to $400 per unit.

The Finance and Administration Committee unanimously approved a $174,520.50 procurement for Neptune water meters under a contract extension with Ferguson Waterworks.

While the new meters are AMI-compatible, the utility is delaying full cellular deployment due to the $350 to $400 per-unit cost of cellular interface modules.

The utility will maintain its standard 15- to 20-year meter replacement cycle rather than accelerating the schedule for a smart meter rollout.

Sweetwater currently operates a pilot program with 400 to 500 cellular meters, primarily installed during new service connections.

Sweetwater Authority's Finance and Administration Committee unanimously approved the purchase of $174,520.50 in water meters from Ferguson Waterworks during its May 8, 2026, meeting. The procurement, which utilizes the second renewal option of an existing contract, will replenish the utility's inventory for standard changeouts and new services. The purchase consists of 1,114 units, predominantly 5/8-inch Neptune T-10 Procoder meters. While the new meters are compatible with Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), the utility is holding off on a full transition to remote cellular reads. During the meeting, Customer Service Manager Gregg Harpenau-Parks confirmed that the utility does not currently have the budget to deploy the technology system-wide. Upgrading to a cellular route would require adding a cellular meter interface unit to the current registers, which Harpenau-Parks noted would cost an additional $350 to $400 per meter. Currently, the utility has a pilot program of roughly 400 to 500 cellular meters in its service area, which are typically installed during new service connections. The General Manager noted that when the utility eventually transitions to an automated cellular or network-based read system, the deployment will need to be executed in grouped geographical areas rather than through scattered replacements of aging meters, in order to maximize the system's benefits. The committee also discussed whether accelerating the utility's standard 15- to 20-year meter replacement cycle could help recover lost revenue from aging, inaccurate meters. Staff advised against an accelerated timeline, noting that past internal studies found no financial nexus to justify the added expense. Instead, staff emphasized that the primary benefit of the smart meters would be serving as an information tool to help customers detect leaks and monitor their own usage.