Bellwether Management Solutions, the leading utility service provider in the Southeast,
is now a division of Allegiant Utility Services!
PRODUCTS & SERVICES
As a part of Allegiant Utility Services, we are now able to offer a quality driven Service Center, end to end solutions for infield testing, auditing and inspection of meters, managing the exchange of customer endpoints and leading complex deployment of AMI and Smart Grid technology. In the shop or in the field, our technicians know best when it comes to meters.
FIELD
SERVICES
We are dedicated to delivering quality service that helps the utility improve field operations while reducing costs and minimizing customer complaints. Our goal is to provide an adaptable and responsive service to the client’s needs in all areas of field activities. These include Meter Audits, Non-Pay Disconnects and Reconnects, Reads-in and Read-outs for Connection of/or Termination of Service, Meter Change-Outs, and Collections. To learn more about our full Field Service offering, click here
METER READ AUDIT /
SITE SAFETY INSPECTION
Does your utility already have Advanced Meter System? If so, regular verification of your assets, and their performance in the field, is crucial to tightening up the “bottom line” and avoiding serious safety hazards! We will accurately verify billing system meter readings (i.e. meter number, module number, location, etc.)
Bellwether will check for meter diversions, multipliers, and safety hazards. We will verify GPS coordinates, conduct a site survey (i.e. transformer size, verify outdoor lighting,) and more!
CONTRACT
METER READING
Since meter reading is considered the “cash register” of the utility industry, the accuracy and timeliness of reads are crucial to maintaining revenue flow. We provide professional, dependable personnel for contract meter reading services who deliver timely and accurate reads and represent your company with pride. By choosing our contract meter reading service, a utility can reduce personnel costs and create an opportunity for a seamless transition to AMI/AMR.
AMI / AMR
METER INSTALLATION
Attention to detail and accurate data collection is the key to a successful Automated Meter Infrastructure (AMI) / Automated Meter Reading AMR deployment project. As an Advanced Meter Installation Company for Electric, Water, and Gas utilities, Bellwether’s procedures and dedicated project management ensure quality care is given to all facets of the AMI/AMR deployment and meter installation processes. This includes tracking of inventory, on-site collection of the required meter information, removal of old meter, jaw tension testing, new AMI / AMR meter installation, multiple pictures of old and new meters, and updating meter information in the client’s CIS / billing system. Bellwether, Powered by Allegiant is the right Advanced Meter Installation Company for your utility!
LEARN MORE
Other products and services offered by Bellwether and Allegiant Utility Services
About Bellwether Management Solutions
Founded in 1998 and acquired by Allegiant Utility Services in 2020, Bellwether Management Solutions brings decades of utility services experience in a variety of areas, including contract meter reading, advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) deployment, field-related utility services, and post-deployment inspection/safety services.
Our team represents over a century of experience in managing utility operations.
JEFF DEVRIES
President and CEO of Allegiant and Bellwether
As President of Allegiant Utility Services and Bellwether Management Solutions, Jeff DeVries offers more than 20 years of experience in serving Utilities across electric, water, and gas technologies. As a seasoned executive professional in the utility industry, his primary focus is on partnership and quality service.
The acquisition of Bellwether in 2020 was able to bring expanded service offerings to the Southeast region while continuing to build upon the long-standing customer relationships the Bellwether team has developed over the years. Under Jeff’s leadership, Bellwether has been able to offer a broad suite of services with executional excellence to customers like Piedmont EMC, Brunswick, Energy United EMC, Surry-Yadkin EMC, Berkeley Electric Cooperative and more.
Throughout Jeff’s career, he has worked side by side with Utilities to service all aspects of their operations. From field operations to data management, Jeff offers a unique understanding of Utility’s business model and challenges. Working for the market leader in Smart Grid Solution, Landis+Gyr, Jeff held numerous leadership roles. As Director of Regional Operations, he oversaw both fiscal and operational aspects in partnering with their customers. In his role as Director of Customer Operations, he was responsible for over 15 million meter reads daily across Electric, Water, and Gas Utilities. His group provided real-time services for call centers, product support, data center management and more.
Along with Jeff’s extensive experience in the Utility industry, he holds an undergraduate degree in Business Management and a Graduate Certificate in Organizational Development.
Through Jeff’s innovative leadership, passion for building partnerships and dedication to the communities served by Utilities, Bellwether and Allegiant’s offerings for services and products continue delivering strong results that directly benefit their customers.
Darnel Woods
Director of Field Services
Darnell is responsible for the activities of the meter services division of Bellwether Management Solutions which includes Automated Meter Reading Deployment, Contract Manual Meter Reading, and Field Services.
Darnell began his employment with Bellwether as a meter reader and quickly progressed to his current position. Prior to employment with Bellwether Management Solutions, Darnell served in the US Army for nine years as a Personnel Administration Supervisor. Coupled with the military and with Bellwether, Darnell has more than 30 years of supervisory, managerial and customer service-related experience.
He is responsible for the development of Bellwether Management Solutions Automated Meter Reading Deployment Data Collection application and related processes and procedures which has resulted in favorable comments from clients.
A native North Carolinian, Darnell resides in Roxboro, NC with his wife Charlotte..
Dale Ring
Director of Sales, Southeast Region
Dale Ring is Director of Sales for the Southeastern Region for Bellwether Management Solutions a Division of Allegiant Utility Services. He has over 20 years of experience in the utility industry focusing on sales and marketing in North and South Carolina.
A native of North Carolina, Dale resides in Carthage, NC with his wife, Vicki. He has two daughters: Samantha and Emma.
Testimonials
EnergyUnited selected Bellwether to complete our changeout of over 133,000 meters. Originally scoped as a 2.5-year project, Bellwether was able to adapt to changing business needs and accelerate the project by a year. Bellwether went above and beyond to mitigate access issues and member requirements leaving us with just a handful of meters to cleanup at the end of the project. Bellwether addressed member complaints in a timely manner and to the member’s satisfaction. Their commitment to integrity, project management, and customer service resulted in a successful AMI deployment. I would choose Bellwether again and would recommend them to anyone ready to begin a meter changeout project.
Weakley County Municipal Electric System used Bellwether Management Solutions as Contractor on our AMI Project. Bellwether installed almost 20,000 meters during our 12-month installation process. We were very pleased with the quality and quantity of work that Bellwether performed. The employees were easy to work with and managed our project well. I was particularly impressed with how few complaints we received from our customers, even though we had no advance informational campaign. The few complaints we received were very minor and were resolved to the customers’ satisfaction in a timely manner by the Bellwether staff. I am happy to give Bellwether a very favorable reference.
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Bellwether was great to work with while changing out all of our 85,000 metering points. The pictures taken of the old and new meters for each meter change was instrumental in assisting us with member concerns from the meter changes or high bill concerns. The file imports allowed us to complete the meter changes in our CIS system without creating a meter change order for each service. The records were easily accessible and the team was great to work with. Due to the efficiency of the systems and personnel we were able to finish ahead of schedule.
When we started planning our AMI deployment we recognized that we could not complete the install in the time frame that we wanted with internal resources. We decided to engage external resources and after some research we found that one of our existing business partners provided this service. That partner was Bellwether Management Solutions. They developed an offering based on our desired time line and brought two dedicated and experienced resources to the table for the project. The original plan was for a 24 month single phase residential deployment. The project was delivered in 22 months with good feedback from our members. I would definitely recommend Bellwether to anyone considering an AMI deployment.
At Wake Electric, we knew we wanted to deploy our new AMI systems as efficiently as possible. While we had some available resources within the company, those resources did not have any hands on experience with a mass meter change out like the project ahead of us. Having Bellwether Management Solutions provide an experienced person, as well as proven AMI deployment handhelds and software, really helped our employees hit the ground running. At this point we are ahead of expectations because of Bellwether Management Solutions’ help.
Learned this morning that Mark with Bellwether finished installing all of the electric meters, as contracted. I would like to commend the Bellwether Staff and Harry. They coordinated and worked so well together, it can only be described as poetry in motion, it was Team Work in every sense of the word. I always received the changeout information in a timely matter and the information was accurate. I only requested a few photos because of customers insistence that the old meter read was wrong and each time I was able to show them a picture of the meter with the same ending read as the read on their bill. Bellwether is a very professional outfit and it was an absolute delight and honor to have them assist us in this very important project.