The Utility Metering Association (UMA) held a seminar in Melbourne on 22 October 2007 as a pre-conference seminar for the Metering Billing/CRM Australia & New Zealand 2007 conference. The seminar was successful with interactive discussions covering national energy reform across electricity, the developments of gas standards and national water initiative directives. These discussions will continue in the discussion forums being developed on the UMA website.

The UMA website has a new area called “Directory Listing”, which lists metering service providers, suppliers, organisations and energy service providers involved in the following categories: AMR/AMM systems, communications infrastructure, meter data management software/services, meter reading, meter repair/replacement services, meter manufacture, consulting services, revenue assurance, utility network business and utility retailer. To be listed, contact Maria at maria@utilitymeteringassociation.com and nominate the categories for listing.

Whilst the directory is a facility for website browsers seeking organisations in the meter related industries, the listing does not link the organisation back its own website. Organisations seeking links via logos can apply for sponsorship. See details on the UMA website under “Become a Sponsor”. UMA is pleased to announce its first sponsor, Talgentra.

Membership details are available on the UMA website under “Become a Member”. A financial member has access to the Member Login area where reports, papers and agendas of the UMA meetings are available. Short term periods of membership are available as well as annual membership.

Revenue assurance
Following the Australian Utilities Revenue Protection Association (AURPA) AGM on 25 October 2007, the AURPA committee unanimously passed a motion to transfer AURPA members across to the UMA. The decision was made to allow AURPA members to be part of a wider and larger networking environment across various disciplines in the water, gas , electricity and irrigation utilities.

UMA welcomes AURPA members to the Association and is planning a Revenue Assurance workshop in early 2008. The workshop will follow on from the Revenue Assurance Training Forum held on 25 October 2007 at the AURPA 2007 Conference in Melbourne facilitated by Duncan Holland from Total Risk Management. With more tasks, operations, administration and IT forming part of the reforms underway, revenue assurance is increasingly important in today’s changing utility environment. We look forward to providing a workshop that will encompass many sectors in the utilities industries and details will follow soon on the UMA website.

All correspondence for the website, discussion forums, membership and sponsorship should be directed to Maria Cugnetto, Founder, Utility Metering Association at maria@utilitymeteringassociation.com / www.utilitymeteringassociation.com