EnergyBiz - September/October 2007 - (Page 56) Smart Metering: A Fresh Approach to Managing Peak Demand and System Security A Call to Action In the near future, all North American utilities will adopt smart metering and the supporting advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) at some level or another. Some utilities will inevitably take a bare bones approach, doing just enough to meet the minimum requirements set forth in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and other regulatory mandates. The more visionary companies, however, will use smart metering as an opportunity to positively influence their destinies, and ultimately, the direction of the North American electrical system. Encouragingly, it appears that most utilities favor the latter option based on the innovative programs being initiated at large utilities throughout North America. The only sure thing is that doing nothing is not an option. The current state of the electrical infrastructure in North America is not sustainable. To change its course, utility companies must embrace a fresh approach to managing peak demand and system security— one that will drive market efficiency while supporting economic, environmental and social priorities. Certainly this is a tall order. But Capgemini believes utilities can meet all of their priorities (and likely realize a host of other benefits) if the approach they adopt in managing peak demand and system security includes: � benefits that motivate consumers to embrace conservation and load management; � business cases that look beyond the meter-to-cash process for benefits to justify investments in advanced meters, communications and data management infrastructure; and � transparency in the market that enables consumers to align in blocks of load that system operators dispatch more effectively as part of an efficient economic dispatch model. Though the utility industry is often accused of being slow to adopt and resistant to change, a new study by Platts and Capgemini suggests just the opposite. According to the study, in which more than 120 senior executives at U.S. and Canadian utilities participated, AMI is the leading “new technology interest” for the majority of the surveyed executives.1 The State of the Market The compliance-based industry in which utilities operate simply doesn’t offer enough incentive for consumers, regulators or utilities to take the difficult steps necessary to make electrical energy markets operate efficiently. ThoughT LE adErship – sponsorEd By CapgEmini www.energycentral.com E n E rgyB i z 57 http://www.energycentral.com
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