Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 2:30 PM EDT
Duke Energy seeks to modernize power delivery systemBusiness First of Louisville
Under a plan proposed Tuesday, Duke Energy Indiana will modernize its power delivery system, including installing digital "smart meters" on the more than 800,000 homes and businesses it serves in its 69-county service area over a five-year period.
In the plan, filed with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, Duke said the meters would have two-way communication capabilities, allowing Duke to read meters from a central location rather than using meter readers.
The move also would allow the utility to reduce voltage levels along its power delivery system, with no customer impact, allowing Duke to conserve enough energy to power an additional 40,000 homes for a year.
In a news release, Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), also said it plans to add sensors along transmission lines that could detect and prevent power line troubles or outages before they happen.
North Carolina-based Duke said in the release that it would release more details, including cost estimates, in June.
The company also said that it has plans for similar initiatives in Ohio, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina "in the future."
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Electricity Users Would Have to Pay for Smart Meters Under Plan
Electricity Users Would Have to Pay for Smart Meters Under Plan
Posted on: Thursday, 22 May 2008, 21:00 CDT
By Elizabeth Souder, The Dallas Morning News
May 22--Oncor Electric Delivery Co., a unit of Energy Future Holdings, wants to install a new, high-tech electricity meters in every home and business in North Texas by 2012.
If regulators approve the plan, residential customers would have to pay around $2.35 per month for the next 11 years for their new meters.
The regulated power line company says the meters can collect so much data about how customers are using electricity that most customers can use the meters to help trim their usage by around 5 percent. That's enough to cover the monthly meter fee.
"Consumers will be able to see how much electricity they use throughout the day and, using that information, make smarter decisions about how they consume electricity and when, in order to save money on their electric bills," said Oncor chief executive Bob Shapard in a statement.
Oncor said in a press release Thursday it aims to install 3 million of the advanced meters in North Texas. Company spokesman Chris Schein said the project will cost around $690 million.
Oncor plans to file the plan with the Public Utility Commission next week, he said. The commission must approve the plan before Oncor may charge customers for the meters.
If the commission agrees to the plan, every Oncor customer will get a new meter, like it or not.
The commission has instructed regulated power line companies to upgrade to high-tech meters, sometimes called "smart meters," that can transmit information about customer usage throughout the day. Mr. Schein said the meters Oncor chose meet all of the PUC's requirements.
With the information the meters collect, retail electricity companies, such as TXU Energy or Reliant, can offer new customer products. For example, a retailer could charge customers a higher price for power used during peak hours of the day.
Some retailers say they will offer home electricity monitors, allowing customers to see their usage real-time, and control their electricity costs before the monthly bill arrives.
The meters will also allow Oncor to detect outages remotely, and help the company fix problems more quickly.
The company had proposed a different plan for deploying new meters involving broadband-over-power line service. That idea collapsed earlier this month when Oncor announced it bought all of the BPL equipment from its partner, Current Communications.
Current had planned to work with Oncor to install BPL meters in 2 million North Texas homes, allowing people to sign up for Internet service through their electricity wires. Now, the Internet service won't be available at all.
Posted on: Thursday, 22 May 2008, 21:00 CDT
By Elizabeth Souder, The Dallas Morning News
May 22--Oncor Electric Delivery Co., a unit of Energy Future Holdings, wants to install a new, high-tech electricity meters in every home and business in North Texas by 2012.
If regulators approve the plan, residential customers would have to pay around $2.35 per month for the next 11 years for their new meters.
The regulated power line company says the meters can collect so much data about how customers are using electricity that most customers can use the meters to help trim their usage by around 5 percent. That's enough to cover the monthly meter fee.
"Consumers will be able to see how much electricity they use throughout the day and, using that information, make smarter decisions about how they consume electricity and when, in order to save money on their electric bills," said Oncor chief executive Bob Shapard in a statement.
Oncor said in a press release Thursday it aims to install 3 million of the advanced meters in North Texas. Company spokesman Chris Schein said the project will cost around $690 million.
Oncor plans to file the plan with the Public Utility Commission next week, he said. The commission must approve the plan before Oncor may charge customers for the meters.
If the commission agrees to the plan, every Oncor customer will get a new meter, like it or not.
The commission has instructed regulated power line companies to upgrade to high-tech meters, sometimes called "smart meters," that can transmit information about customer usage throughout the day. Mr. Schein said the meters Oncor chose meet all of the PUC's requirements.
With the information the meters collect, retail electricity companies, such as TXU Energy or Reliant, can offer new customer products. For example, a retailer could charge customers a higher price for power used during peak hours of the day.
Some retailers say they will offer home electricity monitors, allowing customers to see their usage real-time, and control their electricity costs before the monthly bill arrives.
The meters will also allow Oncor to detect outages remotely, and help the company fix problems more quickly.
The company had proposed a different plan for deploying new meters involving broadband-over-power line service. That idea collapsed earlier this month when Oncor announced it bought all of the BPL equipment from its partner, Current Communications.
Current had planned to work with Oncor to install BPL meters in 2 million North Texas homes, allowing people to sign up for Internet service through their electricity wires. Now, the Internet service won't be available at all.
SmartGridCity in Boulder won't include Internet
Friday, May 23, 2008
Denver Business Journal - by Greg Avery Denver Business Journal
A game-changing technology sending high-speed Internet and communications over powerlines instead of telephone or cable television wires is at the core of the $100 million SmartGridCity program Xcel Energy started May 12 in Boulder.
The utility's main contractor, Current Group LLC -- a company that counts John Malone's Englewood-based Liberty Media, Google Inc., Earthlink Inc., Duke Energy Corp. and Goldman Sachs among its investors -- has led the domestic push for broadband-over-powerline (BPL) in the United States.
But Xcel doesn't plan to offer Current Group's BPL for Internet. Instead, Xcel is using the technology to make the power grid in Boulder a two-way communications system capable of detecting problems on powerlines, manage electricity more precisely -- potentially even down to household devices -- and give customers the ability to tailor their electricity use and make it more "green."
The Minneapolis-based utility (NYSE: XEL) will wire Boulder's 50,000 households with "smart" utility meters, and put sensors in transformers around the city and connect them to a control center. The system will let customers check the details of their power use through a website and, eventually, "program" their homes to minimize consumption and use power more when it's being generated by renewable resources.
"This is a response to what people have been asking for a long time," said Ethnie Groves, an Xcel spokeswoman.
After failures to fulfill its promise as a broadband alternative to fiber optic and cable television networks, BPL is finding new life in "smart grids."
Germantown, Md.-based Current Group is one of the more high-profile companies developing the technology. Current will install transformers on Xcel's powerlines to ethernet cable, install devices at the transformer that can pull digital data traffic from the raw electricity in the lines and hook Boulder homes to the smart grid through a new meter that acts like a modem.
About 15,000 Boulder homes should be connected by August, with the rest of the city's electrical meters transformed by year-end.
Xcel immediately will gain the ability to detect localized problems, such as a tree brushing a powerline, and do something to prevent an outage instead of relying on customers to call about a downed line.
"This gives them a predictive maintenance system as opposed to the run-to-failure systems that's state of the art today," said Brendan Herron, vice president of corporate development and strategy for the 275-employee Current Group.
Eventually, Xcel could have the ability to stagger the cycles of air conditioners in a neighborhood to keep demand down or to change the settings of home thermostats by a degree or two to achieve a broad reductions in demand.
What the system won't do is connect customers to the Internet on Xcel lines. But it could. Current Group says its BPL is capable of Internet speeds up to 8 megabits per-second for upload and download, slightly faster than the broadband speeds cable TV offers.
"The technology works well; it mainly depends on the regulatory environment and whether the utility is interested," Herron said.
About 50,000 households in Cincinnati get Internet from Current Group in partnership with the utility Cinergy. Current's biggest project has been with Texas utility Oncor, formerly TXU.
The Texas project involved installing a smart grid for the electric company in return for using its power system to offer broadband to the entire Dallas-Fort Worth area of 1.8 million households. Current Group partnered with satellite broadcaster DirecTV Group Inc.-- which Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LCAPA, LCAPB) controls -- to offer television, Internet and Voice-over-Internet Protocol telephone bundles. Satellite TV companies have long sought a broadband technology, which would let them compete better with cable television and telecom giants.
But Oncor announced May 2 that it will pay Current Group $90 million to buy the equipment so far installed on its smart grid. The utility system no longer would offer Internet services or TV, but would license the SmartGrid from Current and use it to manage its system. An Oncor spokesman told the Dallas Morning News the company had no interest in becoming a telecommunications company.
Current Group is content to focus on making power grids more intelligent networks, Herron said.
The smart grid technology has been encouraged by acts of Congress and has drawn interest from some the nation's biggest investors.
The Electrical Power Research Institute has estimated that smart grid technology could reduce electricity production by 10 percent domestically and cut electricity-related greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Denver Business Journal - by Greg Avery Denver Business Journal
A game-changing technology sending high-speed Internet and communications over powerlines instead of telephone or cable television wires is at the core of the $100 million SmartGridCity program Xcel Energy started May 12 in Boulder.
The utility's main contractor, Current Group LLC -- a company that counts John Malone's Englewood-based Liberty Media, Google Inc., Earthlink Inc., Duke Energy Corp. and Goldman Sachs among its investors -- has led the domestic push for broadband-over-powerline (BPL) in the United States.
But Xcel doesn't plan to offer Current Group's BPL for Internet. Instead, Xcel is using the technology to make the power grid in Boulder a two-way communications system capable of detecting problems on powerlines, manage electricity more precisely -- potentially even down to household devices -- and give customers the ability to tailor their electricity use and make it more "green."
The Minneapolis-based utility (NYSE: XEL) will wire Boulder's 50,000 households with "smart" utility meters, and put sensors in transformers around the city and connect them to a control center. The system will let customers check the details of their power use through a website and, eventually, "program" their homes to minimize consumption and use power more when it's being generated by renewable resources.
"This is a response to what people have been asking for a long time," said Ethnie Groves, an Xcel spokeswoman.
After failures to fulfill its promise as a broadband alternative to fiber optic and cable television networks, BPL is finding new life in "smart grids."
Germantown, Md.-based Current Group is one of the more high-profile companies developing the technology. Current will install transformers on Xcel's powerlines to ethernet cable, install devices at the transformer that can pull digital data traffic from the raw electricity in the lines and hook Boulder homes to the smart grid through a new meter that acts like a modem.
About 15,000 Boulder homes should be connected by August, with the rest of the city's electrical meters transformed by year-end.
Xcel immediately will gain the ability to detect localized problems, such as a tree brushing a powerline, and do something to prevent an outage instead of relying on customers to call about a downed line.
"This gives them a predictive maintenance system as opposed to the run-to-failure systems that's state of the art today," said Brendan Herron, vice president of corporate development and strategy for the 275-employee Current Group.
Eventually, Xcel could have the ability to stagger the cycles of air conditioners in a neighborhood to keep demand down or to change the settings of home thermostats by a degree or two to achieve a broad reductions in demand.
What the system won't do is connect customers to the Internet on Xcel lines. But it could. Current Group says its BPL is capable of Internet speeds up to 8 megabits per-second for upload and download, slightly faster than the broadband speeds cable TV offers.
"The technology works well; it mainly depends on the regulatory environment and whether the utility is interested," Herron said.
About 50,000 households in Cincinnati get Internet from Current Group in partnership with the utility Cinergy. Current's biggest project has been with Texas utility Oncor, formerly TXU.
The Texas project involved installing a smart grid for the electric company in return for using its power system to offer broadband to the entire Dallas-Fort Worth area of 1.8 million households. Current Group partnered with satellite broadcaster DirecTV Group Inc.-- which Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LCAPA, LCAPB) controls -- to offer television, Internet and Voice-over-Internet Protocol telephone bundles. Satellite TV companies have long sought a broadband technology, which would let them compete better with cable television and telecom giants.
But Oncor announced May 2 that it will pay Current Group $90 million to buy the equipment so far installed on its smart grid. The utility system no longer would offer Internet services or TV, but would license the SmartGrid from Current and use it to manage its system. An Oncor spokesman told the Dallas Morning News the company had no interest in becoming a telecommunications company.
Current Group is content to focus on making power grids more intelligent networks, Herron said.
The smart grid technology has been encouraged by acts of Congress and has drawn interest from some the nation's biggest investors.
The Electrical Power Research Institute has estimated that smart grid technology could reduce electricity production by 10 percent domestically and cut electricity-related greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
DS2 announces availability of the DE21P: the ultimate new compact reference design for embedded Powerline applications
Valencia, SPAIN, 20th May, 2008 - DS2, the leading technology innovator and global supplier of high-speed powerline communications technology, announced today the availability of a new compact reference design, the DE21P module for embedded powerline communications applications that will help drive widespread acceptance of high quality powerline enabled connectivity for home networking and IPTV applications. The DE21P enables product differentiation and can be used for widely different products including set top boxes, home gateways, remote speaker systems, IP cameras, or personal computers.
DS2´s DE21P Embedded Powerline modem Reference Design is designed for use with Aitana, DS2´s leading 200 Mbps chipset solution for reliable high speed multimedia home networking, consumer electronics and service provider IPTV applications. DS2´s 200 Mbps solution is already used by leading service providers including British Telecom, Portugal Telecom, and Telefonica in commercial self install IPTV services and is available through leading retail stores for multimedia home networking applications from manufacturers that include Buffalo, D-Link, Conceptronic, Corinex Communications, Logitec and Netgear.
The Reference Design facilitates full connectivity through optimized module pin out including:
- MII for high speed applications like Ethernet to powerline adapter
- UART interface allows for integration of service data
- TDM / I2S for optimum use in native audio applications
- Flexible power supply for the easiest integration with single, dual or triple supply
- GPIO for advanced features like One button security set-up that removes the need for PC configuration, and multi-color powerline link status indicator
The DE21P reference design provides everything required to move quickly into production of powerline enabled devices. It is the basis of a complete development solution including evaluation board with full connectivity and a powerful application programming environment that allows for the rapid development of custom applications.
Lee Hancock, Product Manager at Bel said, "DS2's reference design provides a solid platform for our Powerline modules so we're able to quickly develop economical, value-added products optimized for performance and reliability, enabling our customers to add networking capabilities without costly redesigns."
The DE21P Embedded Powerline Modem facilitates a fully plug and play networking experience. The embedded web page in each Aitana chipset provides a simplified configuration of home networking devices, while the new processing capabilities include on-chip support for native TR-069 client software in the powerline modem to provide a standard solution for service providers to manage their customers’ home networks. The DE21P has managed queues with multiple priority levels and strict bandwidth and latency guarantees. It supports the full mix of different types of service like Data, VoIP, IPTV or Video on Demand on the same network, and each DE21P node ensures that each traffic stream is allocated its required network resources.
"High performance turnkey PLC technology is the missing puzzle that the market has been looking for!” said Amy Lin, Senior Director of Global Sales and Marketing for Delta Electronics Magnetics and Microwave Business Unit. “With the DE21P embedded module, now we can just plug it in and start to enjoy the uncompromising home network signal quality synchronously. Delta will continue to co-work with DS2 to offer dynamic and innovative PLC solutions for all applications in all industries."
DS2´s DE21P Embedded Powerline modem Reference Design is designed for use with Aitana, DS2´s leading 200 Mbps chipset solution for reliable high speed multimedia home networking, consumer electronics and service provider IPTV applications. DS2´s 200 Mbps solution is already used by leading service providers including British Telecom, Portugal Telecom, and Telefonica in commercial self install IPTV services and is available through leading retail stores for multimedia home networking applications from manufacturers that include Buffalo, D-Link, Conceptronic, Corinex Communications, Logitec and Netgear.
The Reference Design facilitates full connectivity through optimized module pin out including:
- MII for high speed applications like Ethernet to powerline adapter
- UART interface allows for integration of service data
- TDM / I2S for optimum use in native audio applications
- Flexible power supply for the easiest integration with single, dual or triple supply
- GPIO for advanced features like One button security set-up that removes the need for PC configuration, and multi-color powerline link status indicator
The DE21P reference design provides everything required to move quickly into production of powerline enabled devices. It is the basis of a complete development solution including evaluation board with full connectivity and a powerful application programming environment that allows for the rapid development of custom applications.
Lee Hancock, Product Manager at Bel said, "DS2's reference design provides a solid platform for our Powerline modules so we're able to quickly develop economical, value-added products optimized for performance and reliability, enabling our customers to add networking capabilities without costly redesigns."
The DE21P Embedded Powerline Modem facilitates a fully plug and play networking experience. The embedded web page in each Aitana chipset provides a simplified configuration of home networking devices, while the new processing capabilities include on-chip support for native TR-069 client software in the powerline modem to provide a standard solution for service providers to manage their customers’ home networks. The DE21P has managed queues with multiple priority levels and strict bandwidth and latency guarantees. It supports the full mix of different types of service like Data, VoIP, IPTV or Video on Demand on the same network, and each DE21P node ensures that each traffic stream is allocated its required network resources.
"High performance turnkey PLC technology is the missing puzzle that the market has been looking for!” said Amy Lin, Senior Director of Global Sales and Marketing for Delta Electronics Magnetics and Microwave Business Unit. “With the DE21P embedded module, now we can just plug it in and start to enjoy the uncompromising home network signal quality synchronously. Delta will continue to co-work with DS2 to offer dynamic and innovative PLC solutions for all applications in all industries."
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Penn State: Optical wireless and broadband over power lines (BPL): High speed, secure Wi-Fi alternative
Optical wireless and broadband over power lines: High speed, secure Wi-Fi alternative
Published: 10:33 EST, January 11, 2006
Penn State engineers have shown that a white-LED system for lighting and high data-rate indoor wireless communications, coupled with broadband over either medium- or low-voltage power line grids (BPL), can offer transmission capacities that exceed DSL or cable and are more secure than RF.
Colored LEDs or light emitting diodes are currently found in the numbers on digital clocks, remote controls, traffic lights and other applications. Recently, white LEDs have emerged in the market and the tiny white lights are being considered as replacements for incandescent and fluorescent bulbs.
Some researchers predict that by 2012, tiny white LEDs will deliver light brighter than a 60 watt-bulb yet draw only as much current as provided by four D-size batteries. A Japanese team recently suggested using white LEDs not only for lighting but also as light sources for wireless in-house communications.
Now, Dr. Mohsen Kavehrad, the W. L. Weiss professor of electrical engineering and director of the Center for Information and Communications Technology Research, and his team have shown that, in the system they designed, coupling white LEDs to BPL can deliver secure, wireless bit rates of a gigabit per second, a rate only exceeded by fiber.
Kavehrad will detail the Penn State system and its performance in simulation in a paper, "Hybrid MV-LV Power Lines and White Light Emitting Diodes for Triple-Play Broadband Access Communications," at the IEEE Consumer Communications and Networking Conference in Las Vegas, Nev., Tuesday, Jan. 10. His co-author is Pouyan Amirshahi, a doctoral candidate in electrical engineering.
In the Penn State system, white LEDs are positioned so that the room is lit as uniformly as possible. Since the LEDs are plugged into the room's electrical system, broadband data, voice or video delivered via the power lines can piggyback on the light that fills the room to reach any wireless receiving devices present.
Since light does not penetrate walls, as do the microwaves used in RF, the white LED system is more secure. In addition, there are no known health hazards associated with exposure to LED light.
Kavehrad notes, "Optical path differences can cause signal distortion in high-speed data transmission. This distortion is highly dependent on the room's dimensions and system configuration. However, if a system is designed appropriately, this distortion can be minimized. For example, in our proposed system, at worst, distortion limits the data rate to one gigabit."
Although white LEDs are not yet commercially available for this type of application, Kavehrad is confident that they will be. He says, "White LEDs are not there yet but by 2010, they will be available and economical. Their low-energy consumption will make them especially attractive. In the future, when you turn on the lights for indoor low-cost lighting, you could receive broadband via the same white light LED. "
Published: 10:33 EST, January 11, 2006
Penn State engineers have shown that a white-LED system for lighting and high data-rate indoor wireless communications, coupled with broadband over either medium- or low-voltage power line grids (BPL), can offer transmission capacities that exceed DSL or cable and are more secure than RF.
Colored LEDs or light emitting diodes are currently found in the numbers on digital clocks, remote controls, traffic lights and other applications. Recently, white LEDs have emerged in the market and the tiny white lights are being considered as replacements for incandescent and fluorescent bulbs.
Some researchers predict that by 2012, tiny white LEDs will deliver light brighter than a 60 watt-bulb yet draw only as much current as provided by four D-size batteries. A Japanese team recently suggested using white LEDs not only for lighting but also as light sources for wireless in-house communications.
Now, Dr. Mohsen Kavehrad, the W. L. Weiss professor of electrical engineering and director of the Center for Information and Communications Technology Research, and his team have shown that, in the system they designed, coupling white LEDs to BPL can deliver secure, wireless bit rates of a gigabit per second, a rate only exceeded by fiber.
Kavehrad will detail the Penn State system and its performance in simulation in a paper, "Hybrid MV-LV Power Lines and White Light Emitting Diodes for Triple-Play Broadband Access Communications," at the IEEE Consumer Communications and Networking Conference in Las Vegas, Nev., Tuesday, Jan. 10. His co-author is Pouyan Amirshahi, a doctoral candidate in electrical engineering.
In the Penn State system, white LEDs are positioned so that the room is lit as uniformly as possible. Since the LEDs are plugged into the room's electrical system, broadband data, voice or video delivered via the power lines can piggyback on the light that fills the room to reach any wireless receiving devices present.
Since light does not penetrate walls, as do the microwaves used in RF, the white LED system is more secure. In addition, there are no known health hazards associated with exposure to LED light.
Kavehrad notes, "Optical path differences can cause signal distortion in high-speed data transmission. This distortion is highly dependent on the room's dimensions and system configuration. However, if a system is designed appropriately, this distortion can be minimized. For example, in our proposed system, at worst, distortion limits the data rate to one gigabit."
Although white LEDs are not yet commercially available for this type of application, Kavehrad is confident that they will be. He says, "White LEDs are not there yet but by 2010, they will be available and economical. Their low-energy consumption will make them especially attractive. In the future, when you turn on the lights for indoor low-cost lighting, you could receive broadband via the same white light LED. "
Monday, May 19, 2008
Voices: Intellon’s Mark Hazen on the HomePlug AV powerline-networking alternative
How will today's diversity of powerline networking technologies sort out over time, how will the market potential be impacted until then, and how does powerline compete with, coexist with, and cooperate with other LAN and WAN interconnect approaches? Intellon's Mark Hazen fields these and other probing questions.
By Brian Dipert, Senior Technical Editor -- EDN, 5/15/2008
Last fall, powerline-networking provider DS2 weighed in with its thoughts on the technology's strengths, shortcomings and future directions (see "Voices: Chano Gómez on powerline networking's 'universal' hope"). In this follow-up interview, Mark E. Hazen, senior marketing communications engineer with HomePlug Powerline Alliance representative Intellon, DS2's primary competitor, shares his perspectives on a similar set of questions.
Click OVERVIEW
By Brian Dipert, Senior Technical Editor -- EDN, 5/15/2008
Last fall, powerline-networking provider DS2 weighed in with its thoughts on the technology's strengths, shortcomings and future directions (see "Voices: Chano Gómez on powerline networking's 'universal' hope"). In this follow-up interview, Mark E. Hazen, senior marketing communications engineer with HomePlug Powerline Alliance representative Intellon, DS2's primary competitor, shares his perspectives on a similar set of questions.
Click OVERVIEW
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Welcome to Smart Grid City, Colorado
Welcome to Smart Grid City, Colorado
HCN ONLINE - May 9, 2008 by Evelyn Schlatter
Boulder, Colo., is known for a lot of things, including the University of Colorado, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and a distinctive hippie-progressive-outdoorsy vibe. And now, it’s about to get the nation’s first fully-integrated “smart grid.”
A smart grid is exactly what it sounds like: an “intelligent” power grid that uses broadband technology to better manage multiple sources of electricity and increase energy efficiency. In August, Xcel plans to start installing the new smart grid with its 50,000 “smart meters” that will serve about 100,000 residents. Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy picked Boulder for the pilot because the Front Range city is medium-sized and environmentally conscious. It also offers research institutions like the University of Colorado and the National Bureau of Standards and Technology, which is already involved in smart-grid research for the federal government.
Kara Mertz, assistant to the city manager in Boulder, explains that the smart grid will employ a fiber-optic loop around the city. That network will allow communication between households, the utility company and the grid about the amount and source of power in use. The system can also regulate itself. If there’s a power overload in one part of the grid, for example, it will automatically route power through different lines to prevent a shutdown. In addition, a smart grid allows a consumer to choose the power sources she wants to use – wind, solar, or coal.
The system will help consumers make more energy-efficient choices and utilize more renewable energy resources, says Ethnie Groves, spokeswoman for Xcel. “If consumers can see what their households are using on a daily basis, they’ll be better able to track their own usage and figure out ways to save money or be more efficient,” she says.
Smart meters allow consumers to adjust their home power usage automatically. “Basically,” Mertz says, “if you have a ‘smart’ appliance or a little conversion box on your outlet to work with older appliances, the smart grid can talk directly to those appliances … you can turn your dishwasher on from a distance so it runs during non-peak hours, for example.” In addition, says Mertz, the system can store power in battery stations around the city, from which consumers can draw during non-peak hours, and customers “can put power back into the grid from (their) own solar panels.”
Smart-grid technologies have been employed in other U.S. cities. In 2005, CenterPoint Energy in Houston installed 10,000 smart meters in customers’ houses. A smart-grid project exists in Dallas as well, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratories tested smart-grid technologies in 300 households in Washington state in 2006. And Pacific Gas and Electric is planning the country’s largest smart-meter initiative: Over the next five years, PG&E hopes to upgrade more than 10 million customer meters in Northern and Central California.
The cost of Boulder’s pilot system is estimated at around $100 million. To help offset that price tag, Xcel Energy established the Smart Grid Consortium last December, bringing together engineering firms, business leaders and IT experts.
“We’re planning to work very closely with Xcel throughout this process,” Mertz says. “We’ll really push them to figure out how to maximize the potential of this system.” According to Mertz, the city has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. With the projected energy efficiency of a smart grid, “We could meet 25 percent of our goal,” she says. “And I’m vying to be one of the test homes.”
The author is an intern for High Country News.
HCN ONLINE - May 9, 2008 by Evelyn Schlatter
Boulder, Colo., is known for a lot of things, including the University of Colorado, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and a distinctive hippie-progressive-outdoorsy vibe. And now, it’s about to get the nation’s first fully-integrated “smart grid.”
A smart grid is exactly what it sounds like: an “intelligent” power grid that uses broadband technology to better manage multiple sources of electricity and increase energy efficiency. In August, Xcel plans to start installing the new smart grid with its 50,000 “smart meters” that will serve about 100,000 residents. Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy picked Boulder for the pilot because the Front Range city is medium-sized and environmentally conscious. It also offers research institutions like the University of Colorado and the National Bureau of Standards and Technology, which is already involved in smart-grid research for the federal government.
Kara Mertz, assistant to the city manager in Boulder, explains that the smart grid will employ a fiber-optic loop around the city. That network will allow communication between households, the utility company and the grid about the amount and source of power in use. The system can also regulate itself. If there’s a power overload in one part of the grid, for example, it will automatically route power through different lines to prevent a shutdown. In addition, a smart grid allows a consumer to choose the power sources she wants to use – wind, solar, or coal.
The system will help consumers make more energy-efficient choices and utilize more renewable energy resources, says Ethnie Groves, spokeswoman for Xcel. “If consumers can see what their households are using on a daily basis, they’ll be better able to track their own usage and figure out ways to save money or be more efficient,” she says.
Smart meters allow consumers to adjust their home power usage automatically. “Basically,” Mertz says, “if you have a ‘smart’ appliance or a little conversion box on your outlet to work with older appliances, the smart grid can talk directly to those appliances … you can turn your dishwasher on from a distance so it runs during non-peak hours, for example.” In addition, says Mertz, the system can store power in battery stations around the city, from which consumers can draw during non-peak hours, and customers “can put power back into the grid from (their) own solar panels.”
Smart-grid technologies have been employed in other U.S. cities. In 2005, CenterPoint Energy in Houston installed 10,000 smart meters in customers’ houses. A smart-grid project exists in Dallas as well, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratories tested smart-grid technologies in 300 households in Washington state in 2006. And Pacific Gas and Electric is planning the country’s largest smart-meter initiative: Over the next five years, PG&E hopes to upgrade more than 10 million customer meters in Northern and Central California.
The cost of Boulder’s pilot system is estimated at around $100 million. To help offset that price tag, Xcel Energy established the Smart Grid Consortium last December, bringing together engineering firms, business leaders and IT experts.
“We’re planning to work very closely with Xcel throughout this process,” Mertz says. “We’ll really push them to figure out how to maximize the potential of this system.” According to Mertz, the city has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. With the projected energy efficiency of a smart grid, “We could meet 25 percent of our goal,” she says. “And I’m vying to be one of the test homes.”
The author is an intern for High Country News.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
BPL Global Expands Broadband Over Power Lines in Caracas
BPL Global Expands Broadband Over Power Lines in Caracas
La Nueva Electricidad de Caracas (EDC) offers hundreds of customers access to high speed Internet over the existing electric infrastructure
PITTSBURGH, May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- BPL Global, Ltd., a smart grid technology company dedicated to leading the transformation of energy and information delivery, announced today that its BPL implementation in Caracas, Venezuela has been deemed successful by La Nueva Electricidad de Caracas (EDC).
The BPL deployment in Petare, a popular community in the East side of Caracas, has been operating in a trial mode serving numerous multi-dwelling units (MDU). It operates on the existing aerial medium voltage power lines, providing Internet service to low-income areas that are underserved. This project includes an elementary school with more than 1,000 students, enabling children access to the Internet.
The BPL activities fit with EDC's overall strategy of providing services that benefit the communities' goal to continually improve quality of life in Venezuela. EDC is helping the community by leveraging the existing power grid to provide citizens and less privileged communities with access to the Internet. Other services that EDC would like to offer include: VoIP, IPTV, VPN and IP communication services.
Since some areas have no Internet access, the services are expected to have a positive social impact. So far, enrollment of the broadband-enabled buildings has exceeded the 20 percent goal for the pilot.
"Our broadband solutions allow for much broader access to high-speed Internet," said Geraldo Guimaraes, executive director, Latin America for BPL Global. "We're excited about the economic and quality-of-life benefits these kinds of programs can bring to entire cities. The sophistication and versatility of our design makes it possible to work with a range of electrical infrastructures, operating environments and service requirements."
Recent estimates from the Computer Industry Almanac indicate that only 13 percent of the Venezuelan population, or 3.3 million people, have Internet access. The access provided through EDC and BPL Global will enable significant growth in the number of people with broadband access in Venezuela, especially areas of difficult access.
EDC is now expanding the served area in Petare to other primary schools and to Barrio Adentro (modules that provide medical assistance to the community).
As part of the engagement, BPL Global:
* Analyzed the Caracas electrical infrastructure, operating environment
and service requirements presented by EDC.
* Evaluated several best-of-breed BPL vendor solutions and designed the
best solution based upon the requirements of EDC and the
characteristics of the local electrical grid.
* Managed equipment sourcing from ordering, importing and inventorying,
to acceptance testing.
* Trained network operation center employees and field technicians.
* Provided ongoing back-up support to the EDC field team.
La Nueva Electricidad de Caracas (EDC) offers hundreds of customers access to high speed Internet over the existing electric infrastructure
PITTSBURGH, May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- BPL Global, Ltd., a smart grid technology company dedicated to leading the transformation of energy and information delivery, announced today that its BPL implementation in Caracas, Venezuela has been deemed successful by La Nueva Electricidad de Caracas (EDC).
The BPL deployment in Petare, a popular community in the East side of Caracas, has been operating in a trial mode serving numerous multi-dwelling units (MDU). It operates on the existing aerial medium voltage power lines, providing Internet service to low-income areas that are underserved. This project includes an elementary school with more than 1,000 students, enabling children access to the Internet.
The BPL activities fit with EDC's overall strategy of providing services that benefit the communities' goal to continually improve quality of life in Venezuela. EDC is helping the community by leveraging the existing power grid to provide citizens and less privileged communities with access to the Internet. Other services that EDC would like to offer include: VoIP, IPTV, VPN and IP communication services.
Since some areas have no Internet access, the services are expected to have a positive social impact. So far, enrollment of the broadband-enabled buildings has exceeded the 20 percent goal for the pilot.
"Our broadband solutions allow for much broader access to high-speed Internet," said Geraldo Guimaraes, executive director, Latin America for BPL Global. "We're excited about the economic and quality-of-life benefits these kinds of programs can bring to entire cities. The sophistication and versatility of our design makes it possible to work with a range of electrical infrastructures, operating environments and service requirements."
Recent estimates from the Computer Industry Almanac indicate that only 13 percent of the Venezuelan population, or 3.3 million people, have Internet access. The access provided through EDC and BPL Global will enable significant growth in the number of people with broadband access in Venezuela, especially areas of difficult access.
EDC is now expanding the served area in Petare to other primary schools and to Barrio Adentro (modules that provide medical assistance to the community).
As part of the engagement, BPL Global:
* Analyzed the Caracas electrical infrastructure, operating environment
and service requirements presented by EDC.
* Evaluated several best-of-breed BPL vendor solutions and designed the
best solution based upon the requirements of EDC and the
characteristics of the local electrical grid.
* Managed equipment sourcing from ordering, importing and inventorying,
to acceptance testing.
* Trained network operation center employees and field technicians.
* Provided ongoing back-up support to the EDC field team.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Oncor to Purchase CURRENT’s Smart Grid Network: System Being Used to Improve Grid Reliability and Efficiency
May 01, 2008 04:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time
DALLAS & GERMANTOWN, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC and CURRENT Group, LLC announced today that Oncor has agreed to purchase CURRENT’s existing Smart Grid network in Dallas, Texas as well as additional equipment for approximately $90 million. This transaction, which involves the largest broadband-based Smart Grid deployment in the world, will enable Oncor to provide Smart Grid services to up to one-sixth of its service territory. The two companies have also entered into a multi-year agreement whereby CURRENT will license its Smart Grid software systems and sell additional products to Oncor that will allow Oncor the opportunity to expand the Smart Grid network to cover up to one-half of its service territory.
“Through our use of the Smart Grid network, we have been able to detect distribution network issues before they impacted our customers,” said Jim Greer, Oncor Senior Vice President of Asset Management and Engineering. “The Smart Grid has become an integral part of our operations by providing us new and valuable real-time information on our distribution network. As such, we determined we want to own the Smart Grid network.”
The CURRENT Smart Grid™ solution includes broadband over power line (BPL) equipment and technology as well as fiber optics, embedded sensing and software analytics to monitor Oncor’s electric distribution system 24x7. The Smart Grid provides Oncor with real time information on the status of its distribution network and provides automated meter reading. With the system, Oncor is better able to manage its network, deliver more reliable power to end users, and predict potential network problems before they impact customers.
“Through its Smart Grid leadership Oncor has validated the benefits of monitoring and managing the distribution of electricity through a widely deployed Smart Grid,” said Tom Casey, CURRENT’s President & Chief Executive Officer. “CURRENT intends to use the proceeds of this transaction to continue to expand our deployments and enhance our Smart Grid portfolio.”
The Electric Power Research Institute projects that Smart Grid-enabled distribution could reduce electrical energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions as well as improve reliability. The Texas Legislature and the Public Utility Commission of Texas have supported this technology over the last several years, enabling Oncor and Texas to emerge as leaders in deploying Smart Grids. The new federal Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 sets out as the policy of the United States the implementation of Smart Grid systems to modernize the electric grid.
CURRENT and Oncor expect to close the transaction in the second quarter of 2008.
DALLAS & GERMANTOWN, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC and CURRENT Group, LLC announced today that Oncor has agreed to purchase CURRENT’s existing Smart Grid network in Dallas, Texas as well as additional equipment for approximately $90 million. This transaction, which involves the largest broadband-based Smart Grid deployment in the world, will enable Oncor to provide Smart Grid services to up to one-sixth of its service territory. The two companies have also entered into a multi-year agreement whereby CURRENT will license its Smart Grid software systems and sell additional products to Oncor that will allow Oncor the opportunity to expand the Smart Grid network to cover up to one-half of its service territory.
“Through our use of the Smart Grid network, we have been able to detect distribution network issues before they impacted our customers,” said Jim Greer, Oncor Senior Vice President of Asset Management and Engineering. “The Smart Grid has become an integral part of our operations by providing us new and valuable real-time information on our distribution network. As such, we determined we want to own the Smart Grid network.”
The CURRENT Smart Grid™ solution includes broadband over power line (BPL) equipment and technology as well as fiber optics, embedded sensing and software analytics to monitor Oncor’s electric distribution system 24x7. The Smart Grid provides Oncor with real time information on the status of its distribution network and provides automated meter reading. With the system, Oncor is better able to manage its network, deliver more reliable power to end users, and predict potential network problems before they impact customers.
“Through its Smart Grid leadership Oncor has validated the benefits of monitoring and managing the distribution of electricity through a widely deployed Smart Grid,” said Tom Casey, CURRENT’s President & Chief Executive Officer. “CURRENT intends to use the proceeds of this transaction to continue to expand our deployments and enhance our Smart Grid portfolio.”
The Electric Power Research Institute projects that Smart Grid-enabled distribution could reduce electrical energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions as well as improve reliability. The Texas Legislature and the Public Utility Commission of Texas have supported this technology over the last several years, enabling Oncor and Texas to emerge as leaders in deploying Smart Grids. The new federal Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 sets out as the policy of the United States the implementation of Smart Grid systems to modernize the electric grid.
CURRENT and Oncor expect to close the transaction in the second quarter of 2008.
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