Smart Grid & Distribution Automation News

Tollgrade and DTE Energy Team Up for Three-Year Smart Grid Project

Tollgrade Communications partnered with DTE Energy in a Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) commitment to action for a comprehensive grid modernization project in Detroit that will roll out over the next three years. DTE Energy is deploying Tollgrade's LightHouse MV smart grid sensors and predictive grid analytics platform at key substations and feeders within its distribution network.

Itron Total Grid Now Connected with Milsoft's Outage Management System

Itron and Milsoft integrated Itron’s smart grid and AMI software and Milsoft’s outage management system (OMS). This collaboration enhances Itron Total Grid, a combined managed services and smart grid offering, and expands capabilities for the public power sector. The integrated systems enable Milsoft’s OMS to request data from all AMI meters from Itron’s multi-commodity systems. Furthermore, Milsoft OMS, through MultiSpeak, can determine the communication status of Itron’s meters.

Ventyx Joins Swedish Utility to Create One of the World’s Smartest Electricity Networks

Ventyx, an ABB company, joined an initiative to create one of the world's smartest electricity networks, part of a development project entitled Smart Grid Gotland. As part of the project, Ventyx will deploy a comprehensive distribution system optimization solution encompassing network control, demand response management, demand forecasting and business analytics to support the project, enabling large quantities of wind and other renewable and distributed energy sources to be integrated into the grid.

Honeywell and Stor Generation Connect With Building Owners to Stabilize Electrical Grid

Honeywell and power management company Stor Generation Ltd. launched a new smart grid program in the U.K. The companies will use Honeywell technology to temporarily trim energy use in commercial and industrial facilities, combining the excess power to help stabilize the electrical grid, and address country-wide carbon reduction and renewable energy commitments. Under the program, Stor Generation will pay facility owners to lower consumption when the call for electricity starts to outpace what power plants and renewable resources are able to produce.

Georgia Power Completes $109 Million Smart Grid Improvement Project

Georgia Power completed a statewide smart grid improvement project conducted through a multiyear Smart Grid Investment Grant (SGIG) awarded by the Department of Energy (DOE). The $109 million project, which includes $52.5 million in funds from the DOE and $56.5 million from the company, is part of a larger $165 million agreement between Southern Company and the DOE under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Southern Company Enhances Grid Reliability Through $165 million DOE Smart Grid Investment Grant

Southern Company completed the smart grid development efforts associated with the $165 million Smart Grid Investment Grant awarded to the company by the U.S. Department of Energy in 2009. Through a combination of matching funds and additional investments, the company spent a total of $363 million to accelerate smart grid implementation and make the grid more reliable, efficient and secure.

eMeter Expands Offering Through the Cloud

eMeter, a Siemens business, made available a new cloud-based offering for their smart grid application platform, EnergyIP. The new offering can be accessed from the cloud directly via Siemens or through strategic partners as a managed service with subscription-based pricing on a per meter, per month basis. With the eMeter cloud offering, utilities can map specific business drivers to applications on the platform. eMeter can sit side by side with any meter data management (MDM), advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), or consumer engagement solution.

Siemens Releases Data Center Management System

Siemens released a new data center infrastructure management (DCIM) system, Datacenter Clarity LC. The system aims to provide building automation and energy management features for data centers, combining Siemens’ enterprise integration and management capabilities with data center-specific software built upon Siemens Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software.

EPRI Tests Inspection Drones for Power Restoration

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) conducted test flights in Alabama of prototype unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and payloads of video and other sensing equipment to demonstrate that such “drone” technology could be deployed to assess damage to electric transmission and distribution systems following storms. EPRI tested an Aeryon Scout and the Adaptive Flight Hornet Maxi, two rotary winged devices at altitudes under 100 feet, carrying payloads that weighed less than 55 pounds.