Public Power - May 2008 - (Page 44)

HOMETOWN CONNECTIONS New Smart Grid Building Blocks for Improved Customer Care By Steve VanderMeer and Bill Smart The smartsmart. But be ingrid may not herently what public power utilities are doing with it may ultimately prove to be very smart. The electric industry landscape is (once again) in flux. In the face of rapidly rising energy prices, global climate change, enormous transformations in technology and information management and, perhaps most importantly, changing customer needs and expectations, public power officials are tackling challenges unlike any they have faced before. As energy consumption and costs continue to rise, public power utilities face an ever-increasing demand to improve outage management and to improve their control over their electricity grid. New technologies and new uses of old technologies are emerging continually in the attempt to meet the needs of the industry. By implementing advanced metering infrastructure over broadband power line technologies, utilities will be able to easily run smart grid applications and thereby provide fast and accurate information to customers, as well as detect service malfunctions or distribution disorders. Those in public power who have adopted a smart grid technology are often starting with meter reading applications, moving from AMR—automated meter reading, to AMI—advanced metering infrastructure. Among the early leaders in broadband communication technology designed for AMI 44 MAY 2008 and smart grid applications, is Hometown Connections partner, MainNet. MainNet PLUS is offering public power utilities smart grid innovations that are ready to deploy, affordable and flexible in execution. Implementing MainNet’s smart grid solution enhances the electrical distribution networks allowing for: grid automation and monitoring for added reliability, efficiency, and cost-effective operations; real-time and accurate information to customers, theft detection; and reduced energy generation. MainNet’s intelligent plugand-play, end-to-end PLUS system provides the advanced infrastructure for smart grid applications. It turns any electrical grid into a bi-directional IP-based broadband communications network, extending the reach of information transmission over the electricity grid from the medium-voltage transformer, over the low-voltage grids, and up to the customer premises. Data come in to the utility from all points on the grid from virtually any device, including transformers, SCADA equipment, meters, streetlights, traffic/security cameras and energy management units in homes and businesses. The utility also can send outgoing data streams to deliver real-time price signals to customer premises, remotely connect/disconnect meters, or activate load control units. With smart grid applications, utilities can improve grid reliability by monitoring critical components such as SCADA equipment, conductors, and transformers, to identify potential failures before they occur. Remote monitoring and control of a subscriber’s power consumption also enables utilities to ensure device functionality, while better managing peak loads, reducing peak energy consumption, and delaying the need to invest in new power generation stations. With improved demand management, utilities can shorten restoration times in case of failure and improve customer satisfaction. They can also reduce the use of energy resources, which in turn leads to a greener environment. MainNet’s PLUS system’s technological advantages make it a cost-efficient choice for any public power utility eager to improve operational efficiency and customer service. With a broadband communications infrastructure in place, utilities can use the PLUS system to monitor and control their grid rapidly and economically. Because of its compatibility with ZigBee’s open standards, the PLUS system can wirelessly communicate with devices off the grid, such as water and gas meters or demand controllers inside homes or businesses. “Given the industry’s adoption of the ZigBee standard and the development of new energy management and smart home applications that ZigBee will enable, Hometown Connections urges public power managers to avoid investing in single-purpose solutions such as AMR-only systems,” said Tim Blodgett, president and CEO. “Investment in smart grid platforms offers advances in metering today and the flexibility to incorporate new intelligent applications later.” ❚ Steve VanderMeer is national sales director—east region for Hometown Connections. Bill Smart is national sales director—west region. Smart Grid Benefits: • Increased customer satisfaction, • Real-time power outage detection, • Real-time consumption information, • Enhanced utility management & control, • Remote usage measurements, • Remote temperature provisioning, • Transformer and line temperature monitoring, • Detection of any malfunctions or service distribution disorders, • Load balancing and phase balancing features, • Real-time theft detection, • Improved operational efficiency, • Alert on misuse of any utility service, • Improved usage forecasting, • Improved service utilization, • Reduced peak demand effects, • Extended component life cycle, • AMI & remote network control, • Multi-utility metering: electric, gas, water and district heating, • Same-time smart grid applications management, • High-resolution load and voltage metering. PUBLIC POWER

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Public Power - May 2008

Public Power - May 2008 Contents Perspective LEEDing the Way Ontario Moves to Mandatory Time-of-Use Pricing Journey to the Smart Grid Right-Sizing Transformers Energy Audits for Large Industries Economic Development Community Broadband Reliability Hometown Connections Parting Shot

Public Power - May 2008

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