Smart Grid Blog

According to the press release, “Silver Spring Networks, a leading Smart Grid solutions provider, announced today a multi-year extension of its agreement to provide managed services to Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), the largest electric utility in Florida and one of the largest rate-regulated utilities in the United States. Under the terms of the agreement, Silver Spring Networks will continue to manage FPL’s AMI Smart Grid platform using UtilityIQ (UIQ). UIQ is the mission-critical software application offered by Silver Spring that delivers a high degree of visibility and control over a utility’s AMI Smart Grid deployment, including remote monitoring and configuration.

via Silver Spring Networks Announces Contract Extension with FPL | Green Street Journal.

The Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) on Friday conditionally approved Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.’s (BGE) revised smart grid implementation plan.

As a result, BGE, a subsidiary of Constellation Energy (NYSE:CEG), will move forward with implementation of a multi-million dollar plan that will receive $200 million in support from the U.S. Department of Energy.

via Maryland Regulators Approve BGE’s Revised Smart Grid Proposal.

Smart meters have become well-known for their role in electric utilities’ smart grid deployments, but a lesser known trend is the increasing importance of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) for gas utilities, according to an industry analyst report from Pike Research.

via Smart Gas Meters to Reach 36 Million Installations Worldwide by 2016, Says Pike Research| Tekrati Research News.

Caelera  offers the RF3858 front end module (FEM) introduced by RF Micro Devices, Inc., a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance radio frequency components and compound semiconductor technologies.

The RF3858 front end modules support multiple Tx/Rx applications in the 900 MHz ISM band, including Smart Energy/ Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI).

via RFMD Introduces RF3858 Front End Module for Advanced Metering Infrastructure.

Despite all of the rhetoric around, and government support for, a U.S. standards-based smart grid, proprietary communications technology will reign supreme for years to come, according to a report out from Pike Research. Pike found that for the portion of the network that will connect a home’s smart meter to the neighborhood network (in jargon terms that’s called the AMI-NAN)  proprietary wireless mesh technology will be the leading communication technology until at least 2016. That piece of the network will generate 90 percent of the market for smart grid communication nodes by 2012, so the proprietary technology will dominate a big chunk of the available revenues, too.

via Proprietary Smart Grid Tech Will Reign For Years.

Whilst there may be a lot of buzz right now surrounding smart grids, most of it will be over the deployment of smart meters and the advanced metering infrastructure between now and 2015. This report looks beyond the hype, assessing the current status, drivers and barriers, value chain, and business cases of the grid.

via Reportlinker Adds Smart Grid & Smart Metering — NEW YORK, July 20 /PRNewswire/ –.

Elster announced today that Columbia Power and Water Systems (CPWS), a Columbia, Tennessee based electricity, water and broadband utility, has selected Elster for its multi-utility Smart Grid project. CPWS will deploy Elster’s EnergyAxis Smart Grid solution to create an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) system that will improve customer service, meter reading and outage management.

via Columbia Power and Water Systems Selects Elster for Smart Grid Deployment — RALEIGH, N.C., July 15 /PRNewswire/ –.

Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON) and Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG) announced a collaboration to develop integrated smart grid offerings.

The company’s will integrate Convergys’ scalable real-time billing system with Echelon’s advanced metering infrastructure.

via Echelon, Convergys Combine Smart Grid Offerings.

The City of Newton, Massachusetts, has selected Elster's evolution™ fixed network (evoNet™) advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) solution for a system-wide AMI implementation and meter replacement, which will include the installation of innovative new Elster evoQ4 solid state meters.

The evolution AMI system is a fully automated wireless two-way smart metering technology solution that allows water utilities to obtain on-demand readings, real-time leak detection, and tampering or backflow notification. With the evoNet system, utilities can efficiently implement management tools to reduce costs, improve customer service and begin to monitor interval consumption patterns for water.

via City of Newton Selects Elster’s evolution™ AMI Smart Metering Solution to Increase Water… — OCALA, Fla., June 21 /PRNewswire/ –.

Now that U.S. utilities have taken federal stimulus funds and seamlessly built out two-way advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) connecting utility control centers and end users (OK, not completely, but let’s assume that the “stall-ulus” becomes a true stimulus in the near future), the question becomes, what’s next? At the moment, this new “comm layer” or “platform” has utilities planning in two directions: upstream and downstream from the smart meters. First, they are examining whether and how to leverage these new communication networks to support distribution automation (DA) and grid optimization — some have argued that it’s the embedding of sensors and IT onto the distribution grid that is, in fact, the true sense of what’s meant by ‘smart grid.’ Second, utilities are asking — and in many cases, piloting to discover — how best to involve the customer in energy efficiency and demand response programs via home-area networks (HAN) and/or consumer web portals.

via The Second Wave of the Smart Grid : Greentech Media.

ZigBee is ready for mass adoption and “green” energy mandates provide a likely driver while ZigBee itself emerges as the tool of choice for advanced meter infrastructures. Energy mandates will drive the convergence of ZigBee-based home automation and control applications with AMI (Advanced Meter Infrastructure) applications. Automated meters will work in both dimensions, saving significant reading costs for the utilities and offer structured rate formulations. At the same time AMI allows the consumer/user himself to drastically channel energy uses to precise need times and volumes.

via ZigBee Surfs the “Green Wave” for Home and Energy Sectors with Advanced Metering.

Sioux Valley Energy will begin installing Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) equipment, also known as “smart meters” next month.

The new AMI system will allow the cooperative to better manage the customer’s electrical system by knowing within seconds when an outage occurs. AMI meters will also provide more data on electrical use to the customer.

via BrandonInfo.com – Brandon, SD.

Leading Asia Pacific-based provider of network equipment and Smart Grid solutions, Billion Electric Co., Ltd. (Taiex: 3027, trading as Billion), will unveil a full range of Smart Grid solutions, including BPL AMI modules, MV/LV concentrators, energy management solutions like PLC adapter and ZigBee gateway, Cyber Security solutions and industrial smart metering solutions at COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2010 to be held June 1-5 in Taipei, Taiwan.

via Billion Unveils Smart Grid, Energy Management, and Cyber Security Solutions for a Green Planet.

Arcadian Networks, the private wireless communications provider, today announced a new smart grid communications gateway that advances AMI connectivity to its AE11g platform. The FCC-certified AE11gOW device, the latest product in its SMART Grid Gateway® series, takes interoperability to a new level by integrating the Itron OpenWay® cell relay with the Arcadian Networks’ 700 MHz platform. The two companies are currently working toward commercial authorization of the solution.

via PR-CANADA.net – Arcadian Networks Introduces Itron-compatible SMART Grid Communications Gateway for AMI.

EnergyICT, a provider of Smart Metering and Smart Grid solutions to utilities in all markets engaging in Smart Metering projects and a company of the Elster Group, announced that Eandis, a large electricity and gas grid company in Belgium, has deployed components of Elster’s EnergyAxis portfolio of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) solutions successfully to power a large integrated Smart Metering pilot in Belgium.

via Elster Powers Smart Metering Pilot in Belgium.

While Advanced Metering Infrastructure, which allows wireless communication between utilities and meters, has been going in across the country for over a decade, it is only recently that they have been developing into smart grid systems.

Could a smart grid system be growing in your area?

via Smart Grid Systems in your Neighborhood? « The Hydrogen Blog.

Of all the smart electricity grids rolling out locally across the country, Tallahassee’s forthcoming advanced metering system might be the smartest.

This fall, the city’s public utility will launch a smart grid that encompasses electric, natural gas and water services — the first of its kind in the country to combine all three utilities in one network. On a backbone of 220,000 smart meters, a communications infrastructure, data collection software and smart devices, the system will enable the city and customers to save money and manage their power use like never before.

via Tallahassee Preps Nation’s First Smart Grid That Fuses Electricity, Gas and Water Utilities.

IDACORP, Inc. (NYSE: IDA) subsidiary Idaho Power signed a contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), securing $47 million in stimulus funding as part of the DOE’s Smart Grid Initiative.

Idaho Power’s Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) program, including smart meters, was previously approved by the Idaho Public Utilities Commission. The AMI program provides the matched funding requirement for the DOE Smart Grid stimulus grant.

via Idaho Power Signs Department of Energy Contract for Smart Grid Funding — BOISE, Idaho, March 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ –.

ZigBee is ready for mass adoption and “green” energy mandates provide a likely driver while ZigBee itself emerges as the tool of choice for advanced meter infrastructures. Energy mandates will drive the convergence of ZigBee-based home automation and control applications with AMI Advanced Meter Infrastructure applications. Automated meters will work in both dimensions, saving significant reading costs for the utilities and offer structured rate formulations. At the same time AMI allows the consumer/user himself to drastically channel energy uses to precise need times and volumes.

via ZigBee Surfs the “Green Wave” for Home and Energy Sectors with Advanced Metering.

Teridian Semiconductor, an industry leader in energy measurement, control, communication and advanced metering infrastructure, is looking to build upon a successful 2009, which marked the introduction of its energy measurement products for the home and enterprise. Having already established a leadership position in the smart metering arena, the logical next step is to move inside the home and enterprise. The response has been overwhelming as energy measurement continues to be a primary concern among businesses and consumers alike.

via Teridian Sees Bright Future for Energy Measurement Chips in the Home and Enterprise Market.