Meter monitoring and tamper protection system and method

• US 20030179714A1
• Filed: 03/21/2002
• Published: 09/25/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Engage Networks, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Engage Networks, Inc.
• Inventors: Gilgenbach, Alan M., Beck, Timothy A., Armbrust, Richard, Venkatesh, Usha H., Conigliaro, James P., Zingsheim, Jeffery, Dunahee, Kenneth G., Aiken, Andrew H., Collins, Daniel J.
• Granted Patent: US 6,801,865 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/5433 Remote metering
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/546 Combination of signalling, telemetering, protection circuits for remote indication of supply or distribution network condition H02J13/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/60 Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources admission control or resource allocation H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A commodity-meter management system including commodity meters (e.g., electrical energy meters, gas meters, and/or water meters), one or more servers, and a communications application to communicate between the meters and the servers. The meters are connected to the servers via communication mediums. The communications application can communicate bi-directionally in real-time between the meters and the servers via the communication mediums. The communications application can determine the actual configuration parameters according to which the meter is operating at any given time. In order to detect theft of a commodity, the communications application can compare the actual configuration parameters to default configuration parameters. If the actual and default configuration parameters are not equal, substantially equal, or within a predetermined threshold, the communications application indicates that a tamper event has occurred.

Claims

1. A commodity meter management system, comprising:

a commodity meter operating according to an actual configuration parameter;

a server located remotely from the commodity meter;

a communication medium coupled to the commodity meter and to the server;

a transmitter coupled to the commodity meter to transmit the actual configuration parameter of the commodity meter to the server via the communication medium; and

a receiver coupled to the server to receive the actual configuration parameter from the commodity meter via the communication medium.

2. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

a transmitter coupled to the server to transmit a new configuration parameter to the commodity meter via the communication medium; and

a receiver coupled to the commodity meter to receive the new configuration parameter from the server via the communication medium.

3. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

at least one additional commodity meter coupled to the server via a second communication medium, each additional commodity meter operating according to a respective actual configuration parameter; and

a transmitter coupled to each of the at least one additional commodity meters to transmit the respective actual configuration parameters to the server via the second communication medium.

4. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

at least one additional commodity meter coupled to the server via a second communication medium, each additional commodity meter operating according to a respective actual configuration parameter; and

a receiver coupled to each of the at least one additional commodity meters to receive new configuration parameters from the server via the second communication medium.

5. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a communications application enabling bi-directional real-time communication between the commodity meter and the server.

6. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a database coupled to the server, the database storing a default configuration parameter for the commodity meter.

7. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 6, further comprising an application adapted to compare the default configuration parameter with the actual configuration parameter.

8. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the application is further adapted to reset the actual configuration parameter of the commodity meter to the default parameter of the commodity meter.

9. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the application is further adapted to record information regarding resetting of the actual configuration parameter to the default configuration parameter.

10. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the application is capable of real-time comparison of the default configuration to the actual configuration parameter.

11. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the information includes at least one of a date and commodity meter identification information.

12. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the application is further adapted to generate at least one message responsive to detection of a default configuration parameter that is different than an actual configuration parameter.

13. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the transmitter coupled to the commodity meter and the receiver coupled to the commodity meter comprise a transceiver device.

14. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the transmitter coupled to the server and the receiver coupled to the server comprise a transceiver device.

15. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a database coupled to the server, the database storing a new configuration parameter for the commodity meter.

16. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 15, further comprising an application adapted to reset the actual configuration parameter of the commodity meter to the new configuration parameter.

17. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the application is further adapted to record information regarding resetting of the actual configuration parameter to the new configuration parameter.

18. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication medium is at least one of a packet-switched network, a serial communications network, a cellular digital packet data modem network, a two-way pager network, a satellite network, a power line carrier network, and a telephone network.

19. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the commodity meter is an energy meter.

20. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the actual configuration parameter is at least one of a potential transformer primary setting, a potential transformer secondary setting, a potential transformer ratio setting, a current transformer primary setting, a current transformer secondary setting, a current transformer ratio setting, a scale factor, a time-of-use schedule, a season schedule, a demand reset, an energy reset, a clock setting, an energy-per-pulse setting, and a pulse-value setting.

21. A commodity meter management system comprising:

a commodity meter operating according to at least one actual configuration parameter;

a server located remotely from the commodity meter;

a communication medium coupled to the commodity meter and to the server;

a transmitter coupled to the server to transmit at least one new configuration parameter to the meter via the communication medium; and

a receiver coupled to the meter to receive the at least one new configuration parameter from the server via the communication medium.

22. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 21, further comprising:

a transmitter coupled to the commodity meter to transmit an actual configuration parameter to the server via the communication medium; and

a receiver coupled to the server to receive the actual configuration parameter from the meter via the communication medium.

23. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 21, further comprising:

at least one additional commodity meter coupled to the server via a second communication medium, each additional commodity meter operating according to a respective actual configuration parameter; and

a receiver coupled to each of the at least one additional commodity meters to receive at least one new configuration parameter from the server via the second communication medium.

24. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 21, further comprising:

at least one additional commodity meter coupled to the server via a second communication medium, each additional commodity meter operating according to a respective actual configuration parameter; and

a transmitter coupled to each of the at least one additional commodity meters to transmit a respective actual configuration parameter to the server via the second communication medium.

25. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 22, further comprising a communications application enabling bi-directional real-time communication between the commodity meter and the server.

26. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 21, further comprising a database coupled to the server, the database storing a default configuration parameter for the commodity meter.

27. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 26, wherein the application is adapted to reset the actual configuration parameter of the commodity meter to the default parameter of the commodity meter.

28. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 27, wherein the application is further adapted to record information regarding resetting of the actual configuration parameter to the default configuration parameter.

29. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 28, wherein the information includes at least one of a date and commodity meter identification information.

30. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 22, wherein the transmitter coupled to the commodity meter and the receiver coupled to the commodity meter comprise a transceiver device.

31. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 22, wherein the transmitter coupled to the server and the receiver coupled to the server comprise a transceiver device.

32. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 21, further comprising a database coupled to the server, the database storing the at least one new configuration parameter.

33. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 32, further comprising an application adapted to reset at least one actual configuration parameter of the commodity meter to at least one new configuration parameter.

34. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 33, wherein the application is further adapted to record information regarding resetting of the at least one actual configuration parameter to the at least one new configuration parameter.

35. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 21, wherein the communication medium is at least one of a packet-switched network, a serial communications network, a cellular digital packet data modem network, a two-way pager network, a satellite network, a power line carrier network, and a telephone network.

36. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 21, wherein the commodity meter is an energy meter.

37. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 21, wherein the actual configuration parameter is at least one of a potential transformer primary setting, a potential transformer secondary setting, a potential transformer ratio setting, a current transformer primary setting, a current transformer secondary setting, a current transformer ratio setting, a scale factor, a time-of-use schedule, a season schedule, a demand reset, an energy reset, a clock setting, an energy-per-pulse setting, and a pulse-value setting.

38. A commodity meter management system, comprising:

a plurality of commodity meters, each commodity meter operating according to an actual configuration parameter;

a server located remotely from each of the plurality of commodity meters; and

at least one communication medium coupled to each of the plurality of commodity meters and to the server; and

the server and the plurality of commodity meters configured and arranged to transmit the actual configuration parameters from the plurality of commodity meters to the server.

39. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 38, wherein the server and the plurality of commodity meters are configured and arranged to transmit new configuration parameters from the server to the plurality of commodity meters.

40. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 39, wherein the new configuration parameters are default parameters for the plurality of commodity meters.

41. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 38, wherein each of the plurality of commodity meters is coupled to the server by a respective communication medium.

42. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 38, further comprising a communications application enabling bi-directional real-time communication between the commodity meters and the server.

43. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 38, further comprising a database coupled to the server, the database storing a default configuration parameter for at least one of the commodity meters.

44. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 43, further comprising an application adapted to compare the default configuration parameter with the actual configuration parameter.

45. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 44, wherein the application is further adapted to reset the actual configuration parameter to the default configuration parameter of at least one of the commodity meters.

46. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 45, wherein the application is further adapted to record information regarding resetting of the actual configuration parameter to the default configuration parameter.

47. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 44, wherein the application is capable of real-time comparison of the default configuration parameter to the actual configuration parameter.

48. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 46, wherein the information includes at least one of a date and commodity meter identification information.

49. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 44, wherein the application is further adapted to generate at least one message responsive to detection of a default configuration parameter that is different than an actual configuration parameter.

50. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 38, further comprising an application adapted to reset the actual configuration parameter of at least one of the commodity meters to a new configuration parameter.

51. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 50, wherein the application is further adapted to record information regarding resetting of the actual configuration parameter to the new configuration parameter.

52. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 38, wherein each communication medium is at least one of a packet-switched network, a serial communications network, a cellular digital packet data modem network, a two-way pager network, a satellite network, a power line carrier network, and a telephone network.

53. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 38, wherein at least one of the commodity meters is an energy meter.

54. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 38, wherein the actual configuration parameter is at least one of a potential transformer primary setting, a potential transformer secondary setting, a potential transformer ratio setting, a current transformer primary setting, a current transformer secondary setting, a current transformer ratio setting, a scale factor, a time-of-use schedule, a season schedule, a demand reset, an energy reset, a clock setting, an energy-per-pulse setting, and a pulse-value setting.

59. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 38, further comprising a database coupled to the server, the database storing a default configuration parameter for at least one of the commodity meters.

60. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 59, further comprising an application adapted to compare the default configuration parameter with the actual configuration parameter.

61. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 60, wherein the application is further adapted to reset the actual configuration parameter to the default configuration parameter of at least one of the commodity meters.

62. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 61, wherein the application is further adapted to record information regarding resetting of the actual configuration parameter to the default configuration parameter.

63. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 60, wherein the application is capable of real-time comparison of the default configuration parameter to the actual configuration parameter.

64. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 62, wherein the information includes at least one of a date and commodity meter identification information.

65. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 60, wherein the application is further adapted to generate at least one message responsive to detection of a default configuration parameter that is different than an actual configuration parameter.

55. A commodity meter management system, comprising:

a plurality of commodity meters, each commodity meter operating according to an actual configuration parameter;

a server located remotely from each of the plurality of commodity meters;

at least one communication medium coupled to each of the plurality of commodity meters and to the server; and

the server and plurality of commodity meters configured and arranged to transmit new configuration parameters from the server to the plurality of meters.

56. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 55, wherein the server and the plurality of commodity meters are configured and arranged to transmit the actual configuration parameters of the commodity meters from the plurality of commodity meters to the server.

57. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 55, wherein each of the plurality of commodity meters is coupled to the server by a respective communication medium.

58. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 55, further comprising a communications application enabling bidirectional real-time communication between the commodity meters and the server.

66. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 55, wherein each communication medium is at least one of a packet-switched network, a serial communications network, a cellular digital packet data modem network, a two-way pager network, a satellite network, a power line carrier network, and a telephone network.

67. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 55, wherein at least one of the commodity meters is an energy meter.

68. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 55, wherein the actual configuration parameter is at least one of a potential transformer primary setting, a potential transformer secondary setting, a potential transformer ratio setting, a current transformer primary setting, a current transformer secondary setting, a current transformer ratio setting, a scale factor, a time-of-use schedule, a season schedule, a demand reset, an energy reset, a clock setting, an energy-per-pulse setting, and a pulse-value setting.

69. The commodity meter management system as claimed in claim 55, wherein the application is further adapted to set the actual configuration parameter of one or more commodity meters to new configuration parameters.

70. A method of managing a plurality of commodity meters, the method comprising:

providing at least one server located remotely from each of the plurality of commodity meters;

connecting the plurality of commodity meters to at least one server via a communication medium, each one of the plurality of commodity meters operating according to an actual configuration parameter; and

communicating remotely between the at least one server and each of the plurality of commodity meters to determine the actual configuration parameter.

71. The method as claimed in claim 70, wherein communicating remotely includes communicating bi-directionally in real-time.

72. The method as claimed in claim 70, further comprising initially configuring the plurality of commodity meters to operate according to a default configuration parameter.

73. The method as claimed in claim 72, further comprising:

connecting a database to the at least one server; and

storing the default configuration parameter for at least some of the plurality of commodity meters in the database.

74. The method as claimed in claim 73, further comprising:

comparing the actual configuration parameter to the default configuration parameter; and

indicating a tamper event if the actual configuration parameter is not substantially equal to the default configuration parameter.

75. The method as claimed in claim 74, further comprising resetting the actual configuration parameter to the default configuration parameter if a tamper event is indicated.

76. The method as claimed in claim 75, further comprising recording the resetting of the actual configuration parameter to the default configuration parameter.

77. The method as claimed in claim 74, further comprising comparing the actual configuration parameter to the default configuration parameter in real-time.

78. The method as claimed in claim 74, further comprising recording at least one of a date and commodity meter information for the indicated tamper event.

79. The method as claimed in claim 74, further comprising transmitting a tamper event message when a tamper event is indicated.

80. The method as claimed in claim 79, further comprising sending the tamper event message to dispatch personnel to the meter corresponding to the tamper event.

81. The method as claimed in claim 70, further comprising transmitting at least one signal from the server to the meter to change the actual configuration parameter to a new configuration parameter.

82. The method as claimed in claim 81, further comprising recording the changing of the actual configuration parameter to the new configuration parameter.

83. The method as claimed in claim 70, further comprising initiating communication between the at least one server and each one of the plurality of commodity meters.

84. The method as claimed in claim 70, further comprising connecting the plurality of commodity meters to the at least one server via at least one of a packet-switched network, a serial communications network, a cellular-digital-packet-data modem network, a two-way pager network, a satellite network, a power-line carrier network, and a telephone network.

85. The method as claimed in claim 70, wherein each one of the plurality of commodity meters is an energy meter, the method further comprising determining the actual configuration parameter of at least one of a potential transformer primary setting, a potential transformer secondary setting, a potential transformer ratio setting, a current transformer primary setting, a current transformer secondary setting, a current transformer ratio setting, a scale factor, a time-of-use schedule, a season schedule, a demand reset, an energy reset, a clock setting, a energy-per-pulse setting, and a pulse-value setting.

86. A method of managing a plurality of commodity meters, the method comprising:

connecting the plurality of commodity meters to at least one server via at least one communication medium, each one of the plurality of commodity meters operating according to an actual configuration parameter;

retrieving a default configuration parameter for each of the plurality of commodity meters from a database;

communicating between the at least one server and each of the plurality of commodity meters in order to determine the actual configuration parameter;

comparing the actual configuration parameter to the default configuration parameter; and

indicating a tamper event if the actual configuration parameter is not substantially equal to the default configuration parameter.

87. The method as claimed in claim 86, further comprising resetting the actual configuration parameter to the default configuration parameter if a tamper event is indicated.

88. The method as claimed in claim 87, further comprising recording the resetting of the actual configuration parameter to the default configuration parameter.

89. The method as claimed in claim 86, further comprising changing the actual configuration parameter to a new configuration parameter.

90. The method as claimed in claim 89, further comprising recording the changing of the actual configuration parameter to the new configuration parameter.

91. The method as claimed in claim 86, wherein communicating includes communicating bi-directionally in real-time.

92. The method as claimed in claim 86, further comprising comparing the actual configuration parameter to the default configuration parameter in real-time.

93. The method as claimed in claim 86, further comprising recording at least one of a date and commodity meter information for the indicated tamper event.

94. The method as claimed in claim 86, further comprising creating a tamper event message when a tamper event is indicated.

95. The method as claimed in claim 94, further comprising using the tamper event message to dispatch personnel.

96. The method as claimed in claim 86, further comprising initiating communication at one of the at least one server and each one of the plurality of commodity meters.

97. The method as claimed in claim 86, further comprising connecting the plurality of commodity meters to the at least one server via at least one of a packet-switched network, a serial communications network, a cellular-digital-packet-data modem network, a two-way pager network, a satellite network, a power-line carrier network, and a telephone network.

98. The method as claimed in claim 86, wherein each one of the plurality of commodity meters is an energy meter, the method further comprising determining an actual configuration parameter of at least one of a potential transformer primary setting, a potential transformer secondary setting, a potential transformer ratio setting, a current transformer primary setting, a current transformer secondary setting, a current transformer ratio setting, a scale factor, a time-of-use schedule, a season schedule, a demand reset, an energy reset, a clock setting, a energy-per-pulse setting, and a pulse-value setting.

99. A method of managing a plurality of commodity meters, the method comprising:

connecting each one of the plurality of commodity meters to a server via one of a plurality of communication networks, the server located remotely from each one of the plurality of commodity meters; and

communicating bi-directionally between the server and each one of the plurality of commodity meters via the plurality of communication networks.

100. The method as claimed in claim 99, wherein communicating includes communicating bi-directionally in real-time.

101. The method as claimed in claim 99, wherein each one of the plurality of commodity meters operates according to an actual configuration parameter, and further comprising communicating between the at least one server and each one of the plurality of commodity meters in order to determine the actual configuration parameter.

102. The method as claimed in claim 101, further comprising:

connecting a database to the at least one server; and

storing a default configuration parameter for each one of the plurality of commodity meters in the database.

103. The method as claimed in claim 102, further comprising:

comparing the actual configuration parameter to the default configuration parameter; and

indicating a tamper event if the actual configuration parameter is not substantially equal to the default configuration parameter.

104. The method as claimed in claim 103, further comprising resetting the actual configuration parameter to the default configuration parameter if a tamper event is indicated.

105. The method as claimed in claim 104, further comprising recording the resetting of the actual configuration parameter to the default configuration parameter.

106. The method as claimed in claim 103, wherein comparing the actual configuration parameter to the default configuration parameter includes comparing the actual configuration parameter to the default configuration parameter in real-time.

107. The method as claimed in claim 103, further comprising recording at least one of a date and commodity meter identification information for the indicated tamper event.

108. The method as claimed in claim 103, further comprising creating a tamper event message when a tamper event is indicated.

109. The method as claimed in claim 108, further comprising using the tamper event message to dispatch personnel.

110. The method as claimed in claim 101, further comprising changing the actual configuration parameter to a new configuration parameter.

111. The method as claimed in claim 110, further comprising recording the changing of the actual configuration parameter to the new configuration parameter.

112. The method as claimed in claim 99, further comprising initiating communication at one of the at least one server and each one of the plurality of commodity meters.

113. The method as claimed in claim 99, further comprising connecting each one of the plurality of commodity meters to the server via at least one of a packet-switched network, a serial communications network, a cellular-digital-packet-data modem network, a two-way pager network, a satellite network, a power-line carrier network, and a telephone network.

114. The method as claimed in claim 101, wherein each of the plurality of commodity meters is an energy meter, the method further comprising determining an actual configuration parameter of at least one of a potential transformer primary setting, a potential transformer secondary setting, a potential transformer ratio setting, a current transformer primary setting, a current transformer secondary setting, a current transformer ratio setting, a scale factor, a time-of-use schedule, a season schedule, a demand reset, an energy reset, a clock setting, a energy-per-pulse setting, and a pulse-value setting.

126. The method as claimed in claim 111, further comprising recording the changing of the actual configuration parameter to the new configuration parameter.

115. A method of managing a plurality of commodity meters, the method comprising:

connecting the plurality of commodity meters to at least one server via at least one communication medium, each one of the plurality of commodity meters configured to operate according to a default configuration parameter, the at least one server located remotely from each one of the plurality of commodity meters;

communicating between the at least one server and each one of the plurality of commodity meters;

connecting a database to the at least one server; and

storing the default configuration parameter for each one of the plurality of commodity meters in the database.

116. The method as claimed in claim 115, further comprising communicating bi-directionally in real-time.

117. The method as claimed in claim 115, further comprising changing the default configuration parameter to a new configuration parameter.

118. The method as claimed in claim 117, further comprising recording the changing of the actual configuration parameter to the new configuration parameter.

119. The method as claimed in claim 115, further comprising connecting the plurality of commodity meters to at least one server via at least one of a packet-switched network, a serial communications network, a cellular-digital-packet-data modem network, a two-way pager network, a satellite network, a power-line carrier network, and a telephone network.

120. The method as claimed in claim 115, wherein each one of the plurality of commodity meters is an energy meter, the method further comprising determining the actual configuration parameter of at least one of a potential transformer primary setting, a potential transformer secondary setting, a potential transformer ratio setting, a current transformer primary setting, a current transformer secondary setting, a current transformer ratio setting, a scale factor, a time-of-use schedule, a season schedule, a demand reset, an energy reset, a clock setting, a energy-per-pulse setting, and a pulse-value setting.

121. A method of managing a plurality of commodity meters, the method comprising:

receiving an actual configuration parameter for each one of the plurality of commodity meters;

retrieving a default configuration parameter for each one of the plurality of commodity meters;

comparing the actual configuration parameter to the default configuration parameter to determine if the actual configuration parameter is substantially equal to the default configuration parameter; and

transmitting the default configuration parameter to each one of the plurality of commodity meters if the actual configuration parameter is not substantially equal to the default configuration parameter.

122. The method as claimed in claim 121, further comprising requesting the actual configuration parameter from each one of the plurality of commodity meters and each one of the plurality of commodity meters responding to the request by providing the actual configuration parameter.

123. The method as claimed in claim 121, further comprising receiving the default configuration parameter at each one of the plurality of commodity meters and writing the default configuration parameter over the actual configuration parameter at each one of the plurality of commodity meters.

124. The method as claimed in claim 123, further comprising recording the writing of the default configuration parameter over the actual configuration parameter.

125. The method as claimed in claim 121, further comprising changing the actual configuration parameter to a new configuration parameter.

127. The method as claimed in claim 121, further comprising comparing the actual configuration parameter to the default configuration parameter in real-time.

128. The method as claimed in claim 121, further comprising receiving the actual configuration parameter via at least one of a packet-switched network, a serial communications network, a cellular-digital-packet-data modem network, a two-way pager network, a satellite network, a power-line carrier network, and a telephone network.

129. The method as claimed in claim 121, wherein each one of the plurality of commodity meters is an energy meter, the method further comprising receiving an actual configuration parameter of at least one of a potential transformer primary setting, a potential transformer secondary setting, a potential transformer ratio setting, a current transformer primary setting, a current transformer secondary setting, a current transformer ratio setting, a scale factor, a time-of-use schedule, a season schedule, a demand reset, an energy reset, a clock setting, a energy-per-pulse setting, and a pulse-value setting.