“Technology does not replace experience. It amplifies it.” – MJ Martin
Introduction
Utilities across Canada and around the world are undergoing a profound shift in how they measure, understand, and manage consumption. For decades, metering has relied on a static time domain in which utilities collect only occasional snapshots of usage. This approach is adequate for billing but offers little insight into real system behaviour. With the widespread adoption of Advanced Metering Infrastructure, utilities can now move to a dynamic time domain defined by continuous or near real time interval data. This evolution transforms the meter from a passive billing device into an intelligent sensor network that captures the rhythms, stresses, and operational patterns of water, gas, and electric systems. Understanding the value of this shift is essential for leaders who must evaluate its benefits, justify its costs, and chart the future of their utility operations.
Understanding Static and Dynamic Time Domains
A static time domain is based on infrequent meter reads, typically monthly or quarterly, with no visibility into the timing or variability of consumption. Utilities know the total amount consumed in a billing period but not how demand fluctuated within that period. By contrast, a dynamic time domain uses interval data such as fifteen minute, hourly, or daily measurements. These high resolution time series illuminate the true behaviour of customers, the system, and the broader network. Instead of a handful of static snapshots, the utility gains access to a continuous record that behaves like a video rather than a single still image. The difference is transformative because system events such as leaks, backflow, pressure stress, peak load, or equipment failure are inherently temporal phenomena. They require time resolution for detection, analysis, and mitigation.
Why Move to a Dynamic Time Domain
The strongest rationale for dynamic time domains is the improved visibility into system performance. When a utility can observe how water, gas, or electricity is used throughout the day, it can see patterns that never appear in monthly readings. For water utilities, continuous consumption through the night may indicate customer leaks or system losses. For gas utilities, unexpected flow during low demand periods can point to unsafe conditions or abnormal operation. In electric systems, the shape of the demand curve reveals how different customer classes use energy, how electric vehicles influence evening peaks, and how distributed energy resources interact with feeders and substations.
Dynamic time domains also support advanced pricing structures. Time varying electricity tariffs, such as time of use or critical peak pricing, only function when interval data is available. These tariffs help shape customer behaviour, reduce system stress, and encourage conservation. Similar concepts apply in water demand management, where hourly insights into irrigation, commercial usage, and overnight flows support conservation programs and customer engagement.
Operational Benefits for Water, Gas, and Electric Utilities
The operational benefits of dynamic metering are immediate and measurable. In water systems, interval data enables early leak detection that reduces non revenue water and prevents large scale infrastructure damage. Events such as main breaks are preceded by acoustic signatures and pressure transients that can be captured and analysed through edge computing and AMI systems. Utilities can dispatch crews with greater precision and reduce the need for widespread system patrols.
Gas utilities gain improvements in safety and performance through better insight into flow and pressure relationships. By correlating interval consumption with network pressure, operators can optimize regulator settings, identify undersized mains, and improve seasonal readiness. Abnormal usage patterns may also trigger investigations that resolve safety issues before they escalate.
Electric utilities benefit from the integration of interval data with outage management and distribution management systems. Smart meters can confirm power restoration, detect nested outages, and provide transformer level load profiles. Engineers can better balance feeders, manage voltage, and identify overloaded assets. These actions improve reliability indices, reduce overtime costs, and enhance the customer experience.
Planning and Long Term System Management
Dynamic time domains provide a foundation for long term planning and asset management. Accurate load profiles allow utilities to design infrastructure based on measured behaviour rather than broad assumptions. Water mains, gas lines, pumps, transformers, and substations can be sized according to real temporal dynamics, which reduces unnecessary capital spending. In many cases, the use of interval data supports the deferral of capital through better operational strategies. For example, peak shaving enabled by time varying electricity pricing can postpone the construction of new substations. Improved understanding of water distribution patterns can defer storage expansions or main replacements.
Energy planners increasingly rely on smart meter time series to understand regional and seasonal patterns. With the rise of electric vehicles, distributed solar generation, and extreme weather events, the need for accurate temporal data becomes critical. Without dynamic data, models are forced to rely on outdated assumptions that fail to represent modern system behaviour.
Customer Engagement and Public Confidence
A dynamic time domain empowers customers by giving them insight into their own consumption patterns. Web portals and apps can show hourly or daily usage, compare consumption to similar households, and highlight unusual activity. For water utilities, leak alerts can prevent bill shock and improve trust. For electricity, dashboards enable customers to shift their usage to lower cost periods and participate in demand response programs. For gas utilities, interval data provides clarity and predictability for customers with seasonal or process driven consumption.
This transparency strengthens the relationship between utilities and the communities they serve. Customers increasingly expect real time information in every aspect of their lives, from banking to transportation. Metering should not be the exception. Dynamic time domains align utilities with modern expectations for data driven service.
Evaluating Costs and Determining Whether It Is Worth the Investment
Transitioning to a dynamic time domain requires investment in meters, communications networks, data management systems, cybersecurity, analytics capabilities, and change management. These costs must be weighed against the potential benefits. Research and practical case studies show that the foundational savings of AMI, such as reduced meter reading costs and fewer field visits, often offset a significant portion of the investment. When dynamic time domain benefits are added, including leak reduction, deferred capital, improved planning accuracy, and enhanced reliability, the business case becomes even stronger.
However, dynamic metering may not be cost effective for every utility. Very small systems with stable demand, minimal growth, and limited operational challenges may not gain enough additional value to justify the cost. In these cases, targeted deployment may be more appropriate. High value areas such as large commercial customers, high loss districts, or rapidly growing neighbourhoods can provide strong returns without requiring a full system upgrade.
Meaningful Business Results and Strategic Value
When implemented with purpose and aligned to utility strategy, dynamic time domains produce meaningful business results. They improve revenue accuracy, reduce operational costs, enhance infrastructure investment planning, and support regulatory and policy objectives. They also position utilities for the future by enabling advanced technologies such as distributed energy management, automated pressure control, and AI driven leak detection.
The strategic value is clear. As climate pressures, urban growth, and distributed resources continue to reshape utility operations, the ability to understand and manage time based behaviour becomes essential. Static metering cannot meet the demands of the modern utility landscape. Dynamic time domains are not simply a technical upgrade. They represent a foundational shift toward intelligence, resilience, and proactive system management.
Summary
Changing the time domain from static to dynamic in water, gas, and electric metering unlocks deep operational, financial, and strategic value. It provides visibility, supports rapid decision making, enhances reliability, reduces losses, and strengthens customer trust. While the transition requires investment, the benefits are durable and compound over time. For utilities planning for the future, the move to dynamic time domains is not only worthwhile but essential for long term success.
About the Author:
Michael Martin is the Vice President of Technology with Metercor Inc., a Smart Meter, IoT, and Smart City systems integrator based in Canada. He has more than 40 years of experience in systems design for applications that use broadband networks, optical fibre, wireless, and digital communications technologies. He is a business and technology consultant. He was a senior executive consultant for 15 years with IBM, where he worked in the GBS Global Center of Competency for Energy and Utilities and the GTS Global Center of Excellence for Energy and Utilities. He is a founding partner and President of MICAN Communications and before that was President of Comlink Systems Limited and Ensat Broadcast Services, Inc., both divisions of Cygnal Technologies Corporation (CYN: TSX).
Martin served on the Board of Directors for TeraGo Inc (TGO: TSX) and on the Board of Directors for Avante Logixx Inc. (XX: TSX.V). He has served as a Member, SCC ISO-IEC JTC 1/SC-41 – Internet of Things and related technologies, ISO – International Organization for Standardization, and as a member of the NIST SP 500-325 Fog Computing Conceptual Model, National Institute of Standards and Technology. He served on the Board of Governors of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) [now Ontario Tech University] and on the Board of Advisers of five different Colleges in Ontario – Centennial College, Humber College, George Brown College, Durham College, Ryerson Polytechnic University [now Toronto Metropolitan University]. For 16 years he served on the Board of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), Toronto Section.
He holds three master’s degrees, in business (MBA), communication (MA), and education (MEd). As well, he has three undergraduate diplomas and seven certifications in business, computer programming, internetworking, project management, media, photography, and communication technology. He has completed over 60 next generation MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) continuous education in a wide variety of topics, including: Economics, Python Programming, Internet of Things, Cloud, Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive systems, Blockchain, Agile, Big Data, Design Thinking, Security, Indigenous Canada awareness, and more.