Pulaski Gets Top Marks from Metering International for Innovative Smart Grid Deployment

A pioneering Smart Grid project that is bringing economic and operational benefits to a Tennessee municipality earned Pulaski Electric System (PES) the 2010 Award of Excellence for Innovation from Metering International. The award, announced at the Metering, Billing/MDM conference in San Diego, recognized Pulaski’s achievement in successfully applying new technology that resulted in positive financial, operational and customer service impacts to the utility and to the community at large. PES was singled out for being one of the first municipal utilities in the country to own and operate a Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network and use it to provide both triple-play consumer media services and a full range of Smart Grid applications. Pulaski, which provides power to 15,000 homes and businesses in southern Tennessee, deployed a Tantalus Utility Network in 2008 which enables it to use the high-speed FTTH network within the city, and wireless 220 MHz RF in rural areas where broadband is not currently available. This allows PES to drive additional value from its fiber system, implement a redundant data network, and cost-effectively extend advanced metering applications to outlying areas via the wireless network. In the near future, PES plans to use the network to help customers increase energy efficiency, putting them in greater control of their bills and use of power through direct load control programs and up-to-the-minute presentation of consumption and time-of-use price signals via in-home displays. It has also received approval and funding from the Tennessee Valley Authority to participate in its Generation Partners program which will allow it to use its Tantalus network for bi-directional metering, whereby consumers will be able to sell power generated from solar photovoltaic, wind or small hydro sources back to the utility. “Pulaski’s ‘can do’ attitude was evident right from the start,” said Eric Murray, President and CEO of Tantalus. “They realized the boon a fiber optic network would bring to the community and how coupling it with Smart Grid functionality could improve utility operational efficiency and create a distribution system in which consumers and utilities play an active role in reducing consumption. Being singled out as one of North America’s most innovative utilities is a great honor for everyone involved in this groundbreaking deployment.” More information about the Metering International Excellence Awards can be found at http://www.metering.com/node/17249 [2] About Pulaski Electric System Pulaski Electric System (PES) is the municipally-owned electric power provider for Giles County. Serving nearly 15,000 customers, PES was founded in 1891 and is Tennessee’s oldest municipal electric system and the first in the state to receive power from the Tennessee Valley Authority. PES also operates Energize, the state-of-the-art fiber-to-the-home system providing video, voice and data services to customers in and around Pulaski, Tennessee. More information on PES and Energize can be found at www.pesenergize.com [3] About Tantalus Tantalus provides two-way, real-time data communications networks to monitor and control electric, gas and water utilities. TUNet® – the Tantalus Utility Network – is an end-to-end WAN/LAN/HAN communications system that operates with both RF and IP-based networks including FTTH, Fiber, WiFi, WiMAX and GPRS/cellular, either individually or in combination. TUNet’s patented and patents pending technologies are purpose built for the Smart Grid. The Tantalus network unites a utility’s applications, making advanced metering, outage management, power quality monitoring, load control, and distribution automation cost-effective and practical throughout both urban and rural service areas. For more information, please visit www.tantalus.com [4]