Archive for the ‘Grants’ Category

Stimulus funding

Opening General Session Sets a Fantastic Tone for Autovation 2011

Posted by Utilimetrics on October 11, 2011

Change and innovation were at the forefront of several informative presentations at the Autovation Opening General Session Sept. 26 in Washington, DC.

AMI Deployment and Smart Metering Initiatives

Today, 26 states have some type of government regulations requiring implementation of smart meters. These projects demand significant cost and resources, and as William M. Gausman, senior vice president, strategic initiatives at Pepco Holdings, Inc. explained, are much more than meter-to-meter deployment projects.

“This is a comprehensive initiative,” said Gausman.  Pepco is implementing new technologies, including a 300,000 meter deployment in Delaware. He specified that looking at the deployment holistically from the very beginning, to how data is managed, to educating the customers, is the key to successful deployment.

Pepco received $170 million in federal funding to invest in the smart metering project, and $4 million from a smart grid workforce training provider to assist in re-training meter readers. Smart planning is “under the umbrella of change management,” said Gausman. “We have to change the way we operate internally, from the skills and technicians…. Which impacts our whole design…. To be able to accommodate the data that’s coming back from all of these devices.”

AMI deployments lead to significant change, and companies must be willing to accept this challenge. “What we’re faced with,” said Gausman, “is being able to take the new technology and past technologies and integrate the system… that is really based on designs that are 80 to 90 years old.”

The challenge is making these systems operate in a way that works, and as Gausman described, this is not a program where “you wake up one day and decide that you’re implementing smart meters,” he said.

Gausman said it took a couple of years to develop the concept, then achieve approval. “It is a long path, and without the proper planning, you cannot have a successful program,” he concluded

Measuring and Managing Energy Spending

Paul Feldman, past chairman of the Midwest ISO, displayed data readings from a 24-hour period to present how energy demand varies from hour-to-hour, and how retail price for energy doesn’t properly mirror the real price.

By using a movie generated by the grid operator of the Midwest ISO, Feldman took attendees on a tour of how prices swing during one day, fluctuating from a price point of $0 or less MW/h to over $200 per MW/h. 

“The constant price motivates how you actually use electricity across the day,” says Feldman.  “What the movie shows is the actual price is moving around more than any other commodity on earth, and certainly shows that retail price bares no practical relationship to the real price.”

As the movie played, in just a few hours the prices shifted dramatically from one region to the next.

Exciting Innovation at DC Water

George Hawkins, DC Water general manager is involved with many ambitious projects designed to enhance and improve the water utility.

A repeated theme during Hawkins’ presentation was his passion for conservation.  He concluded his presentation by stating, “It is my strong conviction that you all are at the forefront of protecting human civilization.”

The Opening General Session was also an opportunity for Utilimetrics to recognize industry and association leaders and supporters.

Autovation Sponsors and Exhibitors

Dozens of exhibitors packed the expo and provided information, product and service demonstrations and advice to attendees. Click here for a list of all exhibitors and links to their websites.

Autovation sponsors helped support Autovation and its activities. We are very grateful to our sponsors:

Diamond Sponsor: Itron

Gold Sponsors: Neptune, Sensus and SilverSpring Networks,

Silver Sponsors: Aclara, at&t, Elster and Trilliant

Bronze Sponsors: On-Ramp Wireless, Siemens and Sprint

Autovation Host Utilities
Autovation 2011 host utilities Pepco Holdings, Inc. and DC Water were thanked for their hospitality and assistance in planning Autovation. 

Utilimetrics Awards
Utilimetrics presented four awards during the Opening General Session:

Utilimetrics Excellence in Project Management Award

Presented to Hydro One and accepted by Rick Stevens, Hydro One vice president of asset management.

Utilimetrics Consumer Outreach Award

Presented to San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and accepted by Farrell Cox, SDG&E smart meter deployment manager.

Ed Malemezian Utility Professional Best Practices Award

Presented to Charles Kiely, assistant general manager of consumer services, DC Water.

Robert J. Green Distinguished Service Award

Presented to Steve Hadden, SAIC.

After the Opening General Session, hundreds of attendees made their way to education sessions, networking receptions and the expo where they had numerous opportunities to learn, share, explore, experience and celebrate this great industry.

Thanks to everyone who participated in Autovation 2011. Autovation 2012 is Sept. 30-Oct. 3 in Long Beach, Calif. Make plans now.

 

Posted in Autovation, Change Management, customer engagement, Deployment, Grants, Smart Grid, Smart Meters, Water utilities | Leave a Comment »

Poll for Federal Grant Winners

Posted by Rachel Gunderson on January 13, 2010

Posted in Grants, Smart Grid | Leave a Comment »

Are You Ready for the Growth of Home Energy Management Networks?

Posted by Utilimetrics on January 11, 2010

Article written by John R. Johnson

New research studies are providing a clearer picture of what the smart-grid market might look like at the consumer level in the next few years. A recent research study by ABI Research, for example, predicts that 17 million home energy management systems (HEMS) will be installed in 2014, as homeowners make a rapid move to control their energy usage.

In addition, a study by Pike Research predicts that smart-meter installations will reach 250 million worldwide by 2015. Pike Research also reports that total spending on smart-grid infrastructure projects globally will total $200 billion during the period from 2008 to 2015.

“Smart meters are currently the highest-profile component of the smart grid, but they are really just the tip of the iceberg,” says Pike Research managing director Clint Wheelock.

Sam Lucero, ABI practice director and author of the HEMS report, says that of the 17 global million installs, the North American market will account for about 7.5 million in 2014. Europe will total six million, with the Asia-Pacific region at three million. The big question mark, of course, is China. Industry analysts, Lucero included, are trying to track down rumors that China might be ready to deploy between 170 million to 300 smart meters, which would naturally drive installation of in-home network systems as well.

The ABI forecast represents tremendous growth for the in-home network sector, as shipments in 2009 totaled only 480,000 in North America. This year, Lucero expects North American shipments to rise to about 1.5 million.

“There seems to be a lot of interest and traction behind this,” says Lucero, who adds that U.S. utilities appear to be ahead of their global counterparts when it comes to setting up advanced in-home demand response home energy management systems as part of their overall smart meter rollouts.

Lucero thinks part of the reason for the jump from the 2009 figure to the 1.5 million units in 2010 is due to the stimulus grants awarded to utilities this fall. Utilimetrics members received more than $1 billion in stimulus funds. Detroit Edison, for example, will use stimulus funds to pay for a pilot program to install about 3,600 in-home network systems. The rollout will begin later this year.

“The stimulus program had somewhat of a chilling effect during 2009 and created a pause in overall deployment of smart meters, and by extension, home area networking functionality,” says Lucero, “just by virtue of the fact that people paused what they were doing to rush in [grant] applications and to wait and see what money they got. The $3.4 billion in grants will have more of the effect of encouraging [projects] already being contemplated and strengthening what was being already in the pipeline. I don’t see it as a game changer for people who were not going to deploy, now suddenly deploying because of this.”

As for how consumers will read and manage the new energy usage data becoming available to them, the four options include standalone systems, components of larger home automation systems, managed systems from service providers like telcoms and cable providers, and of course, those offered by utilities as part of their demand-response deployments. Lucero believes that systems provided by utilities will form the market’s largest segment, representing more than half of the total shipments in 2014.

“There’s a lot of flux in the home energy management systems market,” he says. “Companies of many different kinds are trying to enter it. Large software companies such as Microsoft and Google are also making a play in this market.”

Surprisingly, Lucero dismisses the Internet providers as major competitors, even though Google, for example, has already initiated a pilot project with San Diego Gas & Electric.

“It will take companies like Google and Microsoft considerable time and effort to catch up with the leading innovators in this space,” he says. “Home energy management systems are well outside their areas of core competency.”

However, Lucero says their interest is symptomatic of a wider drive toward smarter energy management as part of the “clean-tech” movement.

Posted in Grants, Home Area Networks, Smart Grid | 1 Comment »

Informing Consumers – An Important Step in New Deployments

Posted by Rachel Gunderson on November 10, 2009

I talk about the smart grid often at work, but now I’m starting to hear about it at home as well. Last week, Al Gore was interviewed on The Daily Show with John Stewart, and discussed the benefits of the smart grid, or the “super grid” as he called it.

The ideas and technologies that we have been discussing for years are starting to take center stage in the mainstream media.  Hundreds of utilities across the continent are set to make improvements to their existing systems in the next year. How will they prepare their consumers for the impact of these new technologies?

As we saw during last month’s backlash against the installment of PG&E’s smart meters, any adverse changes in consumer rates can cause a situation where the new technology becomes a scapegoat. In the case of PG&E , while the new meters are still being retested , it is believed that bill increases were likely caused by a combination of a rate increases approved by the state Public Utilities Commission in March and above average summer temperatures. Could this mess have been avoided with better consumer communication? Utilities should keep in mind that empowering consumers with strong, clear communication is an important step toward a successful deployment.

How is your company helping to keep consumers informed about upcoming changes?

Posted in Clean Technology, Deployment, Grants, Pre-Deployment, Smart Grid, Smart Meters | Leave a Comment »

Smart Grid & Speed

Posted by Utilimetrics on November 6, 2009

Word has it that utilities who were awarded stimulus funds are going to be working at an incredible speed.

Get good ideas for your own efforts by learning from some winners of stimulus funding.

We come right to you with a Nov. 23 webinar for anyone involved in Smart Grid development.

Featured speakers will be Bob Sitkauskas of DTE Energy, Jeff Nichols of Sempra Energy Utilities San Diego Gas & Electric, and Kenny Mercado, CenterPoint Energy.  These grant award winners will discuss the implications of the smart energy grid award program for the utility sector, their technology service providers and consumers.

Click here to learn more and Register for this webinar.

Posted in Deployment, Education, Grants, Pre-Deployment, Project Management, Smart Grid, Smart Meters | Leave a Comment »

Big News for Utilimetrics Members

Posted by Utilimetrics on October 29, 2009

A couple of years ago the buzz was about the rising tide of advanced metering infrastructures (AMI). With Tuesday’s announcement the current situation could be aptly described as the smart grid/smart metering tsunami. Do you agree?

With everyone anticipating President Obama’s announcement regarding stimulus funding, we weren’t sure how the news would be received. It is safe to say, at this juncture, that the event has produced a tipping point for the rollout of smart grid technologies, and most notably smart meters, which serve as the building blocks of a smart grid.

By coincidence, on Monday afternoon we were conducting a strategic planning meeting when the evening teleconference regarding smart grid funding was announced. Nearly everyone in the room had either submitted a grant proposal (utilities) or helped prepare grant proposals (vendors and consultants).

From that point forward the tenor of our meeting changed. On Tuesday we learned that total funding would amount to $3.4 billion, with matching private spending of $4.7 billion bringing the total smart grid spend to $8.1 billion.

For the smart metering community, of which Utilimetrics is the leading trade association, funding will support the deployment of 18 million smart meters, representing 13% of American homes.  We estimate the current smart meter penetration rate in North American at 7%, so the additional 13% will produce a dramatic increase in smart meters over the next 18 months.

Altogether, 100 grant recipients are set to deploy 18 million smart meters, 1 million in-home displays, 200,000 advanced transformers, 175,000 load-management devices, 170,000 smart thermostats and 700 automated substations.

Our discussion on Tuesday provided significant insight from those who received funding and those who didn’t.  Many of our members already have smart meter plans in place and will move forward, with or without stimulus funding, although the non-recipients may move at a slower pace. We estimate an even greater increase in smart meter deployments, particularly factoring in plans in the pipeline among non-award recipients.

The question remains, are those companies who were not awarded stimulus funding at a disadvantage?

It is noteworthy that many of our members in the water business have already received stimulus funds from the EPA.

Congratulations to all award recipients!

Posted in Clean Technology, Department of Energy, Grants, Home Area Networks, Public Policy, Smart Grid, Smart Meters | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

 
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