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Your Utility Meters Are Being Upgraded This is why: The City of Cartersville is helping to provide the tools you need to understand and control your utility usage. Beginning April 19, the City of Cartersville utility technicians will be updating your utility meters with a new technology that will provide accurate utility usage data. AMI stands for Advanced Metering Infrastructure, called AMI for short. These new meters will be able to measure the use of water, gas, and/or electric in your home or business with this reliable system. AMI automatically sends a brief, private, digital message to a data collection tower using a cellular signal. Think of it along the lines of what your cell phone does now. All meter reads then transmit to the City of Cartersville, where the information is processed within the billing system, giving you accurate up-to-date info. Your new meter will send immediate alerts for water, gas, and/or electric utilities. Data is gathered in real time and will be accessed by our Utility Departments, on- demand. This will improve our operations and give you the opportunity to know your usage. These smart meters make it possible to collect and deliver data daily, several times a day, or even as quickly as every five minutes. REAL-TIME DATA AMI will generate a more consistent and accurate billing system. And this will result in fewer recording errors and fewer customer complaints. Because AMI automates the process, less oversight in the field will be needed. Customer Service will be able to investigate, diagnose, and solve a customer's concern in seconds, with data provided. BETTER BILLING AMI can identify issues before they grow into larger problems. These meters can identify water pressure drops and will report these types of issues immediately. Faster reporting means faster response time. If a customer reports a suspected gas leak, the City can confirm their assumptions in seconds. It also pinpoints the cause of a power outage before customers have the chance to call it in. PREVENTATIVE TOOL