Case Study: Dairyland Power Cooperative enhances metering and communications with Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL)

Multitasking Metering System Enhances Dairyland Power’s Widespread Generation and Transmission Operations

Dairyland Power Cooperative, headquartered in La Crosse, Wisconsin, needed to replace a failing analog cellular data communications system that supported its widespread generation and transmission operations. The cooperative wanted a secure, modern way to collect meter readings, provide real-time meter data and local alarms, and support AMR communications across its service territory. It evaluated Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) as part of a broader upgrade and focused on SEL’s SEL-734 Revenue Metering System.

SEL helped Dairyland Power implement an upgraded metering and communications solution built around the SEL-734 Revenue Meter, integrated into custom communications cabinets with IP and serial connectivity. The system enabled daily billing reads, real-time operational data for SCADA, power quality monitoring, and secure wide-area communications without the cost and maintenance burden of separate RTUs. The result was a more flexible, multifunction metering platform with simultaneous communications over modem, serial ports, and WAN, plus a 10-year no-questions-asked warranty from SEL.

Dairyland Power Cooperative

Ed West

Director of Telecommunications and Control