Milton Hydro to expand TOU billing with smart metres

Milton Hydro, a local utility distribution company located in southern Ontario, along with Trilliant Incorporated, has announced the expansion of Milton’s existing Smart Grid initiative.

Milton, part of the Greater Toronto Area, is Canada's fastest-growing community, and is expected to reach nearly 150,000 residents by 2021.

Milton, who first delivered Time-of-Use (TOU) billing to its customers in 2005, now provides TOU billing for over 21,000 consumers.

The solution is already in full production at Milton, including Trilliant hosted data services and software, and provides for two-way communication capabilities between Milton Hydro and their customers. Furthermore, Milton has successfully completed production testing and enrollment with the province's centralised Meter Data Management and Repository (MDM/R) system.

This system is operated by the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) in its capacity as the Smart Metering Entity.

The Government of Ontario, Canada, through the Energy Conservation Responsibility Act in 2006, has mandated the installation of smart metres in all Ontario businesses and households by 2010. Milton Hydro has completed the installation of smart metres for all their residential customers and all customers shall be on TOU billing by this fall, making Milton the first utility to fully implement Smart Metering and TOU billing.

AEP Texas signs contract with Landis+Gyr

Landis+Gyr has bagged a five-year contract to install 700,00 smart electric metres for AEP Texas.

AEP Texas, which is a unit of American Electric Power, one of the largest electric utilities in the U. S., will deploy Landis+Gyr’s Gridstream advanced metering solution across the utility’s Texas service territory. The Gridstream network will provide two-way communication to 700,000 metering endpoints.

AEP ranks among the nation’s largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined.

With this initiative, AEP Texas will be able to send energy consumption information and real-time pricing signals to consumers as well as provide automated load management options.

AEP Texas is connected to and serves more than one million electric consumers in the deregulated Texas marketplace. Major cities served include Corpus Christi, Abilene, McAllen, Harlingen, San Angelo, Vernon, Victoria and Laredo.

Including the contract with AEP, Landis+Gyr has now signed agreements to deploy approximately four million smart metres with Texas utilities.

China on right track

Frost & Sullivan foresees smart grid playing a significant role in the development of China’s national economy in the future.

It has highlighted that State Grid Corp of China (SGCC), China’s largest power grid builder, met with the Minister of Energy of the United States recently.

SGCC is constructing Ultra high and extra high voltage direct current (+/-800KV, +/-500KV) and alternating current transmission system (1000kV, 500kV, 220kV), and coordinating the development of a smart grid based on information technology and automation technology.

Known as the largest utility in the world, the SGCC serves 26 provinces and 1.08 billion people throughout China.

According to Frost & Sullivan China, smart grid in China focuses more on the transmission side than the distribution side at present.

Based on the fact that coal is the main energy source in China and coal mines are far away from the main load centres, it is the right choice that the power grid development be focused on the transmission network.

The company also highlighted that China has been constructing a unified national power grid network. The project includes what is known as the “West-East Electricity Transfer Project”, which includes three major west-east transmission corridors construction. The transmission capacity of each corridor will be 20 GW by 2020. Through these transmission grids, electricity distributors in China will bond regional power grids in different areas of the country, and improve cross-region electricity transmission ability. This will balance the power generation disparities in different regions.

Dutch set to create EU’s first intelligent city

Amsterdam has initiated the first phase of Amsterdam Smart City programme, becoming the first city in the EU to deploy intelligent technology, such as smart grids, in its electricity distribution system.

The Amsterdam Smart City will use a smart electric grid, smart metres, smart-building technologies and electric vehicles to reduce energy consumption in housing, commercial properties, public buildings and areas, and transportation.

Accenture, which has been chosen to implement this initiative, will also manage the integration of the smart-grid technology and the analysis and use of data.

The company will work with the Amsterdam Innovation Motor, a city affiliated agency that establishes public and private-sector cooperation, to develop, implement, manage and assess each of the phases and projects of the Amsterdam Smart City programme.

The first phase of the Amsterdam Smart City’s low-carbon projects includes: A ship-to-the-grid project, by which commercial vessels and river cruisers will be connected to electric grid when docked; Implementation of smart metres and in-home feedback displays to provide home owners with information to help manage their energy consumption; A smart building at Accenture’s Amsterdam office at the ITO Tower, where intelligent technology will collect, monitor and analyse the building’s programming and utility data to identify energy consumption efficiencies and lower the building’s carbon footprint.

As per the information available, the municipality, energy outfits, and private companies are expected to invest more than €1.1 billion in Amsterdam’s Smart City programmes over the next three years. That includes a €300 million investment by local electricity network operator Alliander in smart grid technology.

Also part of the plan: up to €200 million to be spent by local housing cooperatives on boosting household energy efficiency, and €300 million from companies including Philips and Dutch utility Nuon to be invested in other energy-efficient technologies.

Smart grid continues to be in news

The “smart grid” has become the buzz of the electric power industry, at the White House and among members of Congress, according to a report filed by AP.

A company like Cisco believes that the smart-grid infrastructure market size could be worth more than $20 billion a year for the next five years.

“It’s the marriage of information technology and automation technology with the existing electricity network. This is the energy Internet,” reportedly said Bob Gilligan, vice president for transmission at GE Energy.

The Obama Administration has recently announced a new solicitation for around $4 billion in stimulus, funding for new power- transmission technology.

As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, there are plans to distribute more than $3.3 billion in smart grid technology development grants and an additional $615 million for smart grid storage, monitoring and technology viability.

According to Max Schulz, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, the irony in the stimulus package’s approach to grid investment is that private industry has long made clear its willingness to spend its own money to fix the grid, as long as Washington allows utilities and transmission companies to do it the right way.

“What the industry actually needs from Washington to fix the grid isn't money, but leadership,” he wrote recently. “That leadership can’t come soon enough. Even with robust energy-efficiency and conservation measures, the U.S. economy will require 30% more electricity by 2030.”

Echelon to use a first-of-its-kind embedded T-Mobile SIM

T-Mobile USA, Inc. has developed what it describes as a first-of-its-kind embedded subscriber identity module (SIM).

The SIM is designed to withstand challenging environmental factors like temperature, humidity and motion to deliver reliable wireless connectivity, ideal for vehicle telematics and smart grid infrastructure solutions.

T-Mobile USA said the embedded SIM, slightly larger than the head of a pin, will be built of silicon rather than plastic, making it very durable, since too much heat, vibration, or humidity can damage traditional SIM cards.

Among the first to implement the embedded SIM into its M2M systems is Echelon Corp. The companies have formed an alliance to accelerate the adoption of the smart grid in the North American market by reducing the cost of communicating smart metres using Echelon's Networked Energy Services (NES) system over T-Mobile's GSM cellular service.

As part of the agreement, Echelon will utilise a first-of-its-kind embedded T-Mobile SIM within a cellular radio module to enable all the Echelon smart metres on a given low voltage transformer to communicate back to the utility over the smart grid.

Echelon, which has shipped more than 100,000 of its smart metres to U.S. utility owner Duke Energy and more than 1.6 million worldwide, said the partnership with T-Mobile would provide a cost-effective communications tool for the metres. Its metres reportedly cost about $100 apiece excluding installation.

The partnership’s wireless technology will be deployed on low-voltage transformers, which typically provide electricity connections to between four and 10 homes or businesses. Data provided from the transformers to a central collection point at the utility will allow the power provider to easily pinpoint problems in the network and reduce cost and duration of power outages.

$4 billion marked for smart power grid

The Obama Administration has recently announced a new solicitation for around $4 billion in stimulus, funding for new power- transmission technology.

As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, there are plans to distribute more than $3.3 billion in smart grid technology development grants and an additional $615 million for smart grid storage, monitoring and technology viability.

“A smart electricity grid will revolutionise the way we use energy, but we need standards in place to ensure that all this new technology is compatible and operating at the highest cyber security standards to protect the smart grid from hackers and natural disasters,” Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said.

The Recovery Act will fund the development of those standards, added Locke.

DOE’s Smart Grid Investment Grant Programme will provide grants ranging from $500,000 to $20 million for smart grid technology deployments. It will also provide grants of $100,000 to $5 million for the deployment of grid monitoring devices.

The draft Funding Opportunity Announcement is for smart grid demonstrations in three areas:

· Smart grid regional demonstrations will quantify smart grid costs and benefits, verify technology viability, and examine new business models.

· Utility-scale energy storage demonstrations can include technologies such as advanced battery systems, ultra-capacitors, flywheels, and compressed air energy systems, and applications such as wind and photovoltaic integration and grid congestion relief.

· Grid monitoring demonstrations will support the installation and networking of multiple high-resolution, time-synchronised grid monitoring devices, called phasor measurement units, that allow transmission system operators to see, and therefore influence, electric flows in real-time.

Each demonstration project must be carried out in collaboration with the electric utility that owns the grid facilities.

EnergyHub closes Series A financing

The company is now focusing on its product development as well as the implementation of pilot programmes in the US.

EnergyHub, a home energy management solutions provider, has closed a Series A round co-led by .406 Ventures and Physic Ventures. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.

The company will use the proceeds from this financing to support continued product development and to implement pilot programmes with utilities across the US.

According to .406 Ventures, EnergyHub is providing “a much needed two-pronged approach to decreasing per capita consumption”. The company offers consumers control of their energy use while enabling utilities to better manage their territories.

EnergyHub’s solution, which integrates in-home devices, stand-alone displays, and web-based software, gives consumers real-time information and control over their energy usage. Consumers can access data and control their home from the Internet or a mobile device.

Landis+Gyr on track to complete its 280,000-meter project

The company began deploying its Gridstream two-way smart grid communications network at electric utility Austin Energy last year.

Landis+Gyr is on schedule to complete the 280,000-meter project, currently undergoing at Austin Energy, in August this year.

More than 165,000 two-way meters have been installed so far, and integration with the utility’s meter data management system is underway. The two companies are testing access to interval usage and metering data, and will soon begin testing other advanced features, such as remote disconnect and load management.

Landis+Gyr is providing support services for the deployment of advanced meters and turn-key network hardware upgrade as part of its managed services agreement with Austin Energy, a utility which serves nearly 400,000 electricity customers in and around Austin, Texas.

The company began deploying the Gridstream two-way RF mesh network as part of an expanded management contract with Austin Energy that was signed last year. The deployment will enable the utility to leverage its network for smart grid and demand response applications, including in-home networking, and distributed generation and automation.

Gridstream focuses on maximising the effectiveness of energy management assets through the seamless integration and flow of technology and information.

FERC steps up smart grid development

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has come with a proposed policy statement and action plan that would help set the “rules of the road” of a modern grid.

The proposed policy statement seeks public comment on standards for four priority issues critical to the smooth functioning and operation of the Smart Grid.

After weighing public comments, FERC plans to adopt a final policy statement providing guidance to the electric power industry on standards for:
· Cyber security;
· Communications among regional market operators, utilities, service providers and consumers;
· Ensuring that the bulk power system operators have “wide-area situational awareness” with equipment that allows them to monitor and operate their systems; and
· Coordinating operation of the bulk power system with new and emerging technologies for renewable resources, demand resources, electricity storage and electric transportation systems.

Prioritising the development of key standards will speed up the process of achieving an interoperable smart grid, said Commissioner Suedeen Kelly. Kelly said the proposed policy will require the sharing of information associated with smart grid deployments with the Smart Grid Clearinghouse being developed by the Department of Energy. “This will help to demonstrate the real benefits that investing in a smart grid can bring to the public,” said Kelly.

As per the plan, smart grid advancements will apply digital technologies to the grid, and enable real-time coordination of information from both generating plants and demand-side resources.

Related links: FERC

Smart grid industry should adopt Security Development Lifecycle: study

A study has highlighted that smart grid technology is susceptible to common security vulnerabilities such as protocol tampering, buffer overflows, persistent, and non-persistent rootkits, and code propagation.

These vulnerabilities, according to IOActive, a provider of application and smart grid security services, could result in attacks to the smart grid platform, causing utilities to lose momentary system control of their advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) smart meter devices to unauthorised third parties. This would expose utility companies to possible fraud, extortion attempts, lawsuits or wide spread system interruption.

Joshua Pennell, president and CEO, IOActive, recommended that the smart grid industry should follow a proven formal Security Development Lifecycle, as exemplified by Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing initiative of 2001, to guide and govern the future development of smart grid technologies.

IOActive, which verified significant security issues within multiple smart grid platforms, emphasised that if security is not addressed in the design and implementation of these emerging technologies, it may prove cost prohibitive to address them once the devices are fully deployed in the field.

In terms of deployments, it shared that over two million smart meters are being used currently in the US and it is estimated that the more than 73 participating utilities have ordered 17 million additional smart meter devices.

Related links: Security, Utilities, Advanced Metering Infrastructure, Smart Meters

Accenture to forge connection between utilities and city authorities

Accenture has taken an initiative to accelerate the introduction of smart grids by connecting utilities and city authorities that are committed to deploying the same.

Called The Accenture Intelligent City Network, the initiative connects utility executives and metropolitan leaders to exchange knowledge and practical experience related to planning, challenges and advantages of smart-grid technology.

The focus will be on creation of blueprints for the deployment of smart grids, including the integration of smart grids with broader investments in intelligent infrastructures, such as smart buildings and transportation, as well as new technologies and emerging standards.

Accenture believes that city authorities are in the best position to coordinate with the public- and private-sector stakeholders to transform the energy consumption habits of local communities.

Initial members of the Accenture Intelligent City Network include Xcel Energy, East China Grid Co., a Chinese transmission company; Russian Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Centre (MRSK of Centre), which will be creating an “intelligent” city in Belgorod in collaboration with the regional government; Dutch utility Alliander N.V. and the City of Amsterdam.

Mike Carlson, Xcel Energy’s vice president & chief information officer, said that energy management, customer service and environmental management strategies can all be enhanced with smart-grid technologies and through a partnership between utilities and city and state regulatory leaders.

Related links: Accenture, Utilities, Intelligent infrastructure, Xcel Energy, energy management

Getting a quick response during utility infrastructure outages

SkyBitz has worked on a solution for disaster recovery teams to get a quick response during utility infrastructure outages.

The solution, based on SkyBitz’s Smart Sensor Tracking management solution, allows utility companies to leverage real-time information about the location, status and environmental conditions of their assets. This includes the deployment of teams to remote locations during network outages, as well as efficient selection, retrieval and redirection of assets.

The disaster recovery solution provides an active communication channel between critical mission command and control systems and teams and assets in the field through bi-directional messaging capabilities. The SkyBitz satellite-based solution has a ubiquitous coverage and operates in remote areas that lack terrestrial coverage.

The solution can be used to comply with FEMA cost recovery requirements.

According to the company, the SkyBitz solution is available and compliant with the objectives of the recently signed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Title XIII funding for smart grid and improvements for reliability and recovery from disruptions and integration of renewable generation.

The company believes that initiatives like smart grid, automated metering infrastructure and demand response can all benefit substantially from investments in remote asset management, condition monitoring and metering.

Related links: Utilities, Advanced Metering Infrastructure, Smart Meters

£4.7 billion needed for power grid

A study has indicated that Britain needs to invest up to 4.7 billion pounds to upgrade its electricity grid by 2020 to accommodate new power generation, including renewables and nuclear plants. Among the extensions needed to the grid will be high-voltage subsea cable links between Scotland and England, according to the report by the Electricity Networks Strategy Group.

Mike O'Brien, the energy and climate change minister, said it was vital to build a grid that was "fit for purpose" so that Britain could cut carbon emissions and make supply more secure. "This is a massive long-term investment opportunity and this upgrade work will help support jobs across the low-carbon economy," he added.

In Scotland, the report suggests between 8GW and 11GW of new transmission capacity could be opened up, with one of the key projects being the Beauly-Denny line rebuild, which has been subject to a long-running public inquiry. As per the information available, plans for a £780million series of major investments designed to carry green wind, wave and tidal power from the north of Scotland south to England were outlined.

The UK Government’s Electricity Networks Strategy Group wants an upgrade to the Dounreay to Beauly to Kintore line costing £180million and a strengthened east coast line costing £150million to follow the completion of the controversial proposed Beauly to Denny line. A second wave would include a Caithness to Moray reinforcement costing £450million.

Chris Stubbs, director at environment consultancy WSP, said the £4.7bn bill highlighted the “worryingly high cost” of embracing new energy generation and that the consumer or taxpayer would end up paying.

Ofgem has announced it intends to approve the funds for the pre-construction work on specific transmission projects. It is also developing proposals to make the regulatory regime capable of meeting the renewable challenges.

A call for spending $4.5 billion on smart grid in a rational way

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has reportedly said it could be wasteful for the Energy Department to spend $4.5 billion in matching funds provided in the economic stimulus bill to create a digitised, conversant “smart grid” if the investment is made in technology that becomes obsolete or if the public rejects or underutilises the technology.

“Is it possible to expect that this programme can spend $4.5 billion in two years in a rational way?” Murkowski said recently. “We first need to develop standards for the smart grid programme before we start just throwing money at it.”

A report filed by nytimes.com highlighted that smart grid operation standards have not been designated yet despite a provision in the 2007 energy bill calling for the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology to come up with standards with the help of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other organizations so that the technology can easily communicate on the same platform -- a concept known as interoperability.

That lapse combined with the general lack of public knowledge about the smart grid and how to manage energy in real-time could be a recipe for failure, said Murkowski, who has already stated that for the most part, the amounts of money allocated to programmes specified in the bill are completely unprecedented.

Murkowski acknowledged there is money in the legislation that would benefit Alaska, but she said a short term cash infusion doesn’t outweigh the long term financial burden the legislation places on future generations and state and local governments.

Accenture to forge connection between utilities and city authorities

Accenture has taken an initiative to accelerate the introduction of smart grids by connecting utilities and city authorities that are committed to deploying the same.

Called The Accenture Intelligent City Network, the initiative connects utility executives and metropolitan leaders to exchange knowledge and practical experience related to planning, challenges and advantages of smart-grid technology.

The focus will be on creation of blueprints for the deployment of smart grids, including the integration of smart grids with broader investments in intelligent infrastructures, such as smart buildings and transportation, as well as new technologies and emerging standards.

Accenture believes that city authorities are in the best position to coordinate with the public- and private-sector stakeholders to transform the energy consumption habits of local communities.

Initial members of the Accenture Intelligent City Network include Xcel Energy, East China Grid Co., a Chinese transmission company; Russian Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Centre (MRSK of Centre), which will be creating an “intelligent” city in Belgorod in collaboration with the regional government; Dutch utility Alliander N.V. and the City of Amsterdam.

Mike Carlson, Xcel Energy’s vice president & chief information officer, said that energy management, customer service and environmental management strategies can all be enhanced with smart-grid technologies and through a partnership between utilities and city and state regulatory leaders.

Related links: Accenture, Utilities, Intelligent infrastructure, Xcel Energy, energy management

Smart grid industry should adopt Security Development Lifecycle: study

A study has highlighted that smart grid technology is susceptible to common security vulnerabilities such as protocol tampering, buffer overflows, persistent, and non-persistent rootkits, and code propagation.

These vulnerabilities, according to IOActive, a provider of application and smart grid security services, could result in attacks to the smart grid platform, causing utilities to lose momentary system control of their advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) smart meter devices to unauthorised third parties. This would expose utility companies to possible fraud, extortion attempts, lawsuits or wide spread system interruption.

Joshua Pennell, president and CEO, IOActive, recommended that the smart grid industry should follow a proven formal Security Development Lifecycle, as exemplified by Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing initiative of 2001, to guide and govern the future development of smart grid technologies.

IOActive, which verified significant security issues within multiple smart grid platforms, emphasised that if security is not addressed in the design and implementation of these emerging technologies, it may prove cost prohibitive to address them once the devices are fully deployed in the field.

In terms of deployments, it shared that over two million smart meters are being used currently in the US and it is estimated that the more than 73 participating utilities have ordered 17 million additional smart meter devices.

Related links: Security, Utilities, Advanced Metering Infrastructure, Smart Meters

“Smart metering will revolutionise energy management and grid reliability”

The US industry has welcomed the signing into law of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and its ambitious provisions to modernise the U.S. electricity grid.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act contains specific provisions for the establishment of a $4.2 billion grant programme that will support the rollout of smart grid and smart metering projects across the country. Smart metering solutions provide utilities with a two-way flow of data required to manage energy use, efficiency, demand response and network protection. Consumers benefit from improved usage information and with it, the ability to reduce overall energy costs and carbon footprints.

Terming the development as a “huge victory for forward-looking utilities and consumers”, Richard Mora, CEO of Landis+Gyr North America said, “National demand for electricity is growing three times faster than power resources are being added, making energy conservation critical. The federal government has now joined in the drive to build a smart and dynamic grid infrastructure.”

“Make no mistake, smart metering will revolutionise energy management and grid reliability across the country,” Mora said.

Landis+Gyr pointd out that the potential benefits are enormous. A recent Brattle Group study found that just a five percent drop in peak demand nationally would eliminate the need for installing and running some 625 infrequently used peaking power plants, translating into annual savings of approximately $3 billion. The Department of Energy recently estimated that if the US grid were just five percent more efficient, it would be the equivalent of eliminating the fuel and greenhouse gas emissions of 53 million cars.

Talks of developing smart grid gain momentum in the US

Even as many states in the US have initiated adoption of policies to move towards efficient transmission systems, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif has poined out that the nation needs a national framework for planning, developing and financing transmission infrastructure.

According to chron.com, Congressional leaders in the US pushing to modernise the nation’s electrical transmission system signaled they want to put the federal government in control of decisions normally left to state authorities, from regulating electrical rates to deciding where to place power lines and poles.

Also, Democratic congressional leaders and the Obama administration recently indicated that that they will push for greater federal authority to locate electric transmission lines.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he will soon introduce legislation that gives federal regulators authority to override states on electric grid placement decisions as part of a package of energy proposals the Senate is expected to take up in the coming weeks, reported AP.

Pelosi also called for expansion of the nation’s power transmission grid and development of a “smart grid” that allows increased efficiency and access to remote wind and solar energy resources. She said addressing the grid issue “is essential to all that we do” to promote renewable fuels.

RESA calls for freedom to choose retail electric supplier

The Retail Energy Supply Association (RESA) has testified before the Connecticut General Assembly to oppose three bills that combined will eliminate a customer’s right to choose their energy supplier.

The Association also mentioned that the bills would also establish an electric procurement structure that will shift cost responsibility from private investors to Connecticut ratepayers.

Specifically, RESA members testified in opposition to: (1) H.B. 6507, which would repeal customer choice for Connecticut residential and business customers with maximum demands below 500 kilowatts effective January 1, 2010; (2) H.B. 6510, which would establish a state power authority; and (3) H.B. 6512, which would replace the customer choice structure repealed by H.B. 6507 with a "managed portfolio" electric procurement structure heavily dependent on ratepayer-backed medium-term and long-term contracts.

Describing the adoption of some of the bills as a backward step for Connecticut energy customers, Jay Kooper, President of RESA, said, “What’s more detrimental is the plan to replace the current structure with a failed one-size-fits-all electric procurement structure that, in the past, has exposed Connecticut ratepayers to billions of dollars in stranded costs stemming from utility investment decisions that have done little to contain costs or improve electric system reliability.”