In This Issue
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Great River Energy Discusses Coop ProgressDESPITE CURRENT ECONOMIC WOES, THE FUTURE OF THE ELECTRIC industry is still filled with optimism. The intelligent utility will benefit the industry and society in many ways. Grid operations will be more efficient, capital investments will be deferred and informed customers will conserve more energy. A transformation of this magnitude will require significant time, funding and effort, which all...
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The "Who" of Intelligent InitiativesHOW YOU ORGANIZE TO IMPLEMENT YOUR INELLIGENT UTILITY VISION is more important than the smart grid system you pick. In fact, neither the intelligent utility nor the smart grid are single systems. Rather, intelligent utility is a vision implemented by strategy, business process, and system change. Figure1 depicts options for moving from status quo to an intelligent utility. The left-hand side of...
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Xcel Energy Involves Numerous Stakeholders to Move From Vision to RealityAS ROGER GRAY POINTED OUT IN THE LAST ARTICLE, TODAY, MANY UTILITIES struggle to figure out where smart grid/intelligent utility fits in their company - from what department owns these projects to how departments collaborate on a project. Michael Lamb, managing director of IT operations and strategy, Xcel Energy, discusses how building grid intelligence takes more than just a department or a...
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Pepco Addresses Regulatory ConcernsPEPCO HOLDINGS,INC. (PHI) IS IMPLEMENTING ITS BLUEPRINT FOR THE FUTURE, designed to pursue innovative technologies and initiatives that will provide PHI's customers with increased energy efficiency, demand response and pricing options. PHI's Blueprint includes implementing: Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) Meter data management (MDM) systemHome area networking (HAN)Demand response Outage...
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An Online OuttakeA CARDINAL RULE OF ANY CONTRACT FOR SERVICES OR PRODUCTS IS to ''know your vendor.'' Granted, the requisite knowledge will vary with the risk profile of the service or product, however, information technology and business process outsourcing contracts invariably require close vendor scrutiny. Examples for energy utilities include contracts involving automated meter reading (AMR) and advanced...
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A Closer Look at PPL Electric Utilities
Meet Bob Geneczko. He started his PPL career in 1974 as an engineer and is now vice president of customer services for PPL Electric Utilities. Geneczko took some time to discuss PPL initiatives to learn more about its grid, which included upgrading more than 1.4 million meters. For Geneczko and others at PPL Electric Utilities, the initiatives have not been so much ''smart grid'' as building more... -
A quick look at smarter grids and more intelligent utilitiesPPL ELECTRIC UTILITIES IS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF increasing intelligence about the grid through improved metering capabilities. Although smarter meters enabled data communication, PPL had to turn that data into intelligence and enable groups both inside and outside of the utility to acquire the knowledge they need to ensure reliable, affordable, efficient and sustainable energy. PPL is building a...
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IT IS PRACTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO NOT FEEL overwhelmed by information emerging from all corners of the utility industry touting the coming age of intelligence across utilities. This age, in effect, will bring an entirely different game to the utility industry. The possibilities in this bold, new, intelligent utility game range from more ways to leverage existing intelligent systems to entirely...
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Amid Economic Crisis, Federal Support Remains StrongDespite an ailing economy, the federal government's interest in modernizing the electricity grid to be more reliable, use less energy, save money, increase the nation's security and lower greenhouse gas emissions, remains strong.Utilities, for instance, are set to benefit from a measure included in the $700-billion bailout package signed into law last year that would allow them to write off smart...
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Public policy will inspire or necessitate itFEDERAL LAWMAKERS HAVE TAKEN A KEEN INTEREST in the concept, realizing that a modern grid is essential to improving reliability and bolstering economic output. A multitude of states, meanwhile, are either considering or enacting laws to promote digital technologies. Massachusetts, for example, recently adopted legislation to require utilities to perform time-of-use studies and adopt smart grid...
