Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 27, 1994                   TAG: 9408180023
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MELISSA CURTIS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TRACE SYSTEM STREAMLINES METER READING IN ROANOKE

Thanks to a new high-tech meter-reading system announced Tuesday, the utility now can do the task in about an hour.

Roanoke Gas Co. is the first company in the nation to implement the new system, which it says eventually will save the company $250,000 in operating costs.

The system, called Trace, works by sending out radio signals from a computer-equipped van that are answered by meters with transmitters. The computer collects and stores the data. The information is saved to a disk and later loaded into the company's main computer for billing purposes. No paper is involved.

Using the system, gas-meter readers no longer have to walk to each meter and read and record the information by hand. Meter readers can drive by the buildings and homes hooked up to the Trace system, and the van's computer records the information.

In a 10-minute drive in downtown Roanoke on Tuesday, the computer was able to read 295 meters.

"Reading meters is very labor-intensive; that's why it's so incredible," said Rob Glenn, Roanoke Gas Co. vice president. "We don't have to knock on your door; we can just drive by your house and have your meter read."

The company's goal is to add 10,000 customers to the Trace system each year and to have all 43,000 customers on it within four years. The 410 customers in the downtown area now on the system were chosen because that was the most difficult route for meter readers. Most meters on the route are located in basements.

It costs the company $56 for each transmitter and another $8 to $10 to install it on a meter.

But, Glenn said, the new system ultimately will save enough money to hold down gas rates. And that means customers will save money as well.

Reading meters requires seven employees, each working 20 days a month. Once Trace is fully implemented, only two employees working 10 days a month will be needed.

"Using this new technology, the labor saving is incredible," Glenn said.

But Glenn said none of the company's meter readers will lose his or her job because of Trace. Instead, as the program progresses, meter readers will be transferred to other jobs with the company.

Before bringing Trace to Roanoke, Roanoke Gas tested the system in Bluefield as a pilot program. Bluefield Gas Co., a Roanoke Gas subsidiary, started the program three years ago and was involved in the research and development of Trace in conjunction with American Meter Co., the equipment's manufacturer.

By using Trace, one employee in Bluefield is able to read the meters of 4,500 customers in a single day. The task used to take the same employee 20 days.

Glenn said Roanoke Gas plans to buy a van equipped with Trace sometime in the next four years. Until then, the company will lease the van from American Meter Co..