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TOP 25 INTELLIGENT UTILITIES
WELCOME TO THE INAUGURAL UTILIQ RANKING OF U.S. ELECTRIC utilities—a list of the top 25 intelligent utilities based on a detailed analysis by IDC Energy Insights and Intelligent Utility magazine. We developed this ranking in response to a number of issues and challenges in the rapidly evolving electric utility industry. First, we wanted to separate the smart grid hype from reality. As we have...
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STIMULUS BOOSTS COOPERATIVE EFFORTS BETWEEN UTILITIES
IN ORDER FOR A SMARTER GRID TO WORK, UTILITIES MUST BE OPEN TO working more closely with one another. With the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) earmarking $4.5 billion in funding for the smart grid, it appears as if the incentive to make this happen has just increased: a large portion of the grants will give priority to projects conducted at the local and regional levels....
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DUKE, XCEL KEEP IT REAL
THE INTELLIGENT UTILITY IS A NEBULOUS CONCEPT to most people. So Duke Energy set up a three-dimensional structure outside Cincinnati to simulate how the whole thing would work. Its Envision Center displays how automated equipment can enable the utility and its customers to communicate and save energy, especially during expensive periods of peak demand. It's all technologically feasible. But a key...
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LES EVENT TO EXPLORE VALUE
LINCOLN ELECTRIC SYSTEM (LES), WHICH SERVES Lincoln, Neb., has low electricity rates and a very reliable system. So why are they looking at a smart grid and a one-day event to help explain it?WHY A SMARTER GRID?The world is changing and according to J. Todd Hall, vice president of consumer services, LES needs to design a prudent vision to adapt to the rapidly changing environment. For example, ''...
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CONSUMER FEEDBACK ON SMART GRID
I SPEND A LOT OF TIME INTERVIEWING UTILITY customers in their homes—conversing with them about electric bills, new technologies and their outlook on the future. My interviewees are rich and poor, technically savvy and baffled by technology, big families and singles and retirees and students. They all use electricity and they're all willing to talk to a stranger about it.Across the last year, our...
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MINNESOTA COOP ADOPTS TECHNOLOGY, NOT TERMINOLOGY
SONJA BOGART IS A WELL-INFORMED UTILITY professional. Still, a bulk of the literature she peruses about the smart grid leaves her more confounded than informed.And at Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association, she's not alone with that sentiment. Fear of baffling members has prompted the Rockford, Minn.-based coop—serving two rural and suburban counties near the Twin Cities—to shy away...
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COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONALS AROUND THE GLOBE are scurrying about looking for ways to leverage the phenomenal growth of social media outlets to accomplish business objectives. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and the like are multiplying so rapidly that no one knows exactly how many sites there are today. Some experts estimate 900, but each day brings more. Since most sites are...
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NES, DUKE, SDG&E GET MORE SOCIAL
SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS CONTINUE TO GAIN ACCEPTANCE as a viable way for utilities to reach customers for increased customer service and marketing efforts. PROMOTING CONSERVATION: NESWhen Nashville Electric Service (NES) wanted to promote a recent energy conservation event in conjunction with the Nashville Sounds minor league baseball team, the utility exercised many traditional public relations...
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NES, DUKE, SDG&E GET MORE SOCIAL
SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS CONTINUE TO GAIN ACCEPTANCE as a viable way for utilities to reach customers for increased customer service and marketing efforts. PROMOTING CONSERVATION: NESWhen Nashville Electric Service (NES) wanted to promote a recent energy conservation event in conjunction with the Nashville Sounds minor league baseball team, the utility exercised many traditional public relations...
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CONNECTING THE UTILITY EDGE TO ITS CORE
ASSUMING YOU DON'T LIVE UNDER A ROCK, YOU HAVE likely heard of or tried Twitter, the online microblogging service that enables users to broadcast short messages and status updates to their followers. The network effect and scale of Twitter means that participants are readily making connections to both their immediate followers, as well as the edges of their chosen communities of interest and...
