“The smartest AMI migration is not the one that replaces the most meters in the shortest time. It is the one that extracts the greatest value from every asset already in the ground while building the intelligent network of tomorrow.” – MJ Martin
Introduction
For many Canadian utilities, the transition from Automated Meter Reading, or AMR, to Advanced Metering Infrastructure, or AMI, is often presented as an all or nothing proposition. Vendors frequently imply that every legacy endpoint must be replaced before meaningful benefits can be realized. In practice, this approach is expensive, operationally disruptive, and rarely necessary. A more effective strategy is controlled coexistence, where existing AMR infrastructure continues to deliver value while AMI technology is introduced in carefully planned stages.
Think of a municipality replacing its road network. Engineers do not close every street simultaneously and rebuild the city from scratch. Instead, roads are upgraded one corridor at a time while the remaining network continues serving traffic. Metering infrastructure should be treated the same way.
Preserving the Value of Existing Investments
Canadian municipalities have invested tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in AMR equipment over the past two decades. Many endpoints remain mechanically sound, Measurement Canada compliant, and capable of producing accurate billing data. Premature replacement converts functioning assets into stranded capital before their useful life has been exhausted.
A controlled coexistence strategy recognizes that the objective is not replacing technology for its own sake. The objective is improving utility operations while maximizing return on existing investments. Utilities Canada, the Canadian Infrastructure Bank, and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities all emphasize prudent asset management and life cycle optimization as fundamental principles of sustainable infrastructure investment. These principles apply equally to metering assets.
Migration by Route, District and Meter Class
Rather than replacing an entire city simultaneously, utilities should divide the migration into logical operating segments.
A geographic approach upgrades one meter reading route or pressure district at a time. This allows installation crews, customer service representatives, and billing personnel to gain experience while limiting operational risk.
A customer class approach prioritizes commercial and industrial accounts where interval data delivers immediate operational and revenue benefits. Residential customers may remain on AMR until replacement becomes economically justified.
An infrastructure driven approach aligns AMI deployment with watermain rehabilitation, subdivision growth, or scheduled meter replacement cycles. Each construction project becomes an opportunity to modernize without creating unnecessary field work.
Each approach minimizes capital expenditure while steadily expanding AMI coverage.
Operating Dual Networks Successfully
Running AMR and AMI simultaneously should not be viewed as a weakness. It is a deliberate engineering strategy.
Modern meter data management systems routinely consolidate information from multiple collection technologies into a common database. Billing systems, customer portals, and analytics platforms receive standardized data regardless of whether the source originated from drive by AMR, fixed network AMI, or cellular communications.
The utility gains flexibility because each technology performs the role for which it is best suited. Dense urban neighbourhoods may justify fixed network AMI. Remote rural customers may continue using mobile collection. Seasonal properties may benefit from cellular communications.
The customer experiences one utility even though several collection technologies operate behind the scenes.
A Retirement Roadmap
Every proposal should include a transparent retirement roadmap.
Legacy AMR assets should remain in service until one or more measurable thresholds are reached. These thresholds may include declining reliability, increasing maintenance costs, discontinued manufacturer support, communication failures, or scheduled meter replacement due to Measurement Canada requirements.
Each year, the proportion of AMI endpoints increases while the AMR population naturally declines. Eventually the remaining AMR population becomes sufficiently small that complete retirement becomes economically justified.
This roadmap replaces arbitrary deadlines with evidence based decision making.
Summary
Controlled coexistence transforms AMI migration from a technology replacement project into an asset management strategy. Canadian utilities reduce financial risk, preserve existing investments, simplify workforce transition, and maintain uninterrupted customer service while steadily building a modern intelligent metering network.
The most successful proposals are therefore not those promising the fastest replacement. They are the ones demonstrating the clearest migration path, the strongest business case, and the highest return on every dollar already invested.
A question remains for every Canadian utility considering AMI. Should success be measured by how quickly legacy technology disappears, or by how effectively every existing asset continues generating value until the day its retirement is genuinely justified?
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 major certifications in business, computer programming, internetworking, project management, media, photography, and communication technology. He has completed over 80 next generation MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) [aka Micro Learning] continuous education programs in a wide variety of topics, including: Economics, Python Programming, Internet of Things, Cloud, Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive systems, Blockchain, Agile, Power BI, Big Data, Design Thinking, Security, Indigenous Canada awareness, and more.
Martin in a volunteer, a photographer, a learner, a technologist, a philosophizer, and a romantic optimist.