AMI System Update

AMI stands for automated metering infrastructure and is an integrated system of equipment, communications and information management systems. This allows close monitoring of system operations. It provides the co-op and members with many benefits including near real-time meter readings. With AMI, we are able to regularly read your meter through messages sent from your meter to our office.

The average useful life of a meter is 10-15 years, and our system is nearing the end of its useful and repairable life. Two-thirds of the current system is Power Line Carrier (PLC) and one-third Radio Frequency (RF). The PLC meters are no longer supported by our manufacturer and the RF technology is out of date. The existing electric meters were installed in our legacy territory in Jo Daviess and Carroll counties in 2010. Henry County members received the meters in 2013 following the merger with Farmers Mutual Electric Company.

We’ve reached the point where replacement of the system provides the greatest value. The new rollout will make the entire system advanced RF and use the latest technology.

An update of natural gas meters has been ongoing since 2024.

Your new meter will be installed where your current meter is located.

The new meters are being installed in phases starting in our northern service territory. That work is expected to begin mid-May. We will send an email or postcard before beginning work in an area. You do not have to be present during the meter change.

JCE Co-op has contracted with Utility Metering Systems (UMS) for installation of new meters. All UMS employees working on the project will have an ID badge and will be wearing gray shirts with UMS on the sleeve or bright yellow t-shirts/jackets/vests with “Utility Metering Solutions” or “UMS” on the back. They will travel in vehicles that have a large co-branded UMS and JCE Co-op magnet. UMS employees will also carry a letter of introduction.

Yes. Your electricity will be off for a brief period (estimated to be no longer than 15-30 minutes) while your new meter is installed. This brief outage may affect your other services, such as fiber internet or VoIP phone services, if a battery back-up is not installed.

The contractor will leave a door hanger to let you know they have changed the meter or indicating a reason the meter could not be changed. If the exchange was not completed, a return date for a second attempt will be noted.

Economic Benefits: The co-op will be able to make upgrades to meters via remote commands, saving money by eliminating truck rolls to update meter programming. In addition, our existing system has many meters that are physically read. The new meters will reduce the need to have a JCE meter reader visit member properties monthly.

Reliability: The new system will operate on an FCC licensed frequency that only JCE is allowed to use (If anyone else broadcasts on that frequency, they will face a large fine.) With the current system, the co-op experiences communication interruptions and noise that decreases the reliability of the system.

The co-op will have increased reliability in getting timely information from meters and better communication directly to the meters. The new meters will collect reads every 15 minutes continually each day, which will enhance reliability significantly. This allows for a quicker response if there is a problem. Frequent reads also provide substantial data to aid in answering member questions about use.

Safety: The new meters have arc detection, hot socket detection and temperature alarms, capabilities the existing meters lack. A multitude of other alarms are also available including overvoltage, tamper alarms and brownout voltage.

Yes, the meter has a Power Fail alarm that can notify us when a meter has lost power. The meter will also record blinks when the power goes off and comes back on a few seconds later. Remember, it is important that you still call the cooperative if your power is out to ensure your outage is documented.

The meter only registers the amount of energy used throughout the day, not how a member used energy. The technology will allow for remote reconnections or disconnections; however not all meters will have this functionality. Remote reconnects and disconnects are only available on certain forms and classes of meters.

The new meter records kWh delivered, kWh received, voltage, current, temperature, power factor, and demand. Reads are collected every 15 minutes.

The meters are very accurate. They record kWh usage down to the thousandths.

The member’s data is not tied to the meter itself at all. The meter number is tied to the members’ account through our customer information system (CIS). The members’ data is kept in our CIS and is not stored in the meter or the meter reading software.

JCE Co-op.

If you have a question not answered here or a specific question about your account, contact our member care team Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. by calling 800-858-5522 or emailing info@jcecoop.com.