Patent ID: 7447760

Claim:
A method of maintaining integrity of data collection in an intelligent electronic device operated in the field to monitor electrical energy, the method comprising: operating a first intelligent electronic device at a location to monitor electrical energy and collect data related thereto; operating a second intelligent electronic device at the location to monitor the same electrical energy and collect data related thereto; transferring the data collected by the first intelligent electronic device over a network to a database; terminating the operation of the first intelligent electronic device to perform maintenance of the first intelligent electronic device; activating the first intelligent electronic device following the maintenance to again monitor electrical energy at the location and collect additional data related thereto; transferring the data collected by the second intelligent electronic device to the database; and from the database, transferring the data from the first intelligent electronic device and the data from the second intelligent electronic device over the network to be stored in the first intelligent electronic device in conjunction with the additional data.