Thanks to our friends at Smart Grid News for publishing an edited version of Don Pollock's thoughts on some of the challenges and solutions facing utilities, below is the original article.

Today, in a webinar moderated by our friends at Smart Grid News, representatives from our valued partner Qualcomm, and SAIC will explain the technical capabilities of cellular technology for grid modernization projects and, present use case scenarios regarding how some utilities are adding cellular to the technology mix supported by their smart grid communication architecture.  
 
Cellular networks provide an advanced and cost effective option for smart grid applications. However, to focus the discussion on the relative merits of one technology solution over another is to miss a more important point.  There is no universal “one-size-fits-all” technology solution for a smarter grid. For a variety of different reasons, including cost, coverage, latency, and network security issues most utilities already deploy and will continue to need, a wide range of different communications technologies.  These include cellular, Wi-Fi, radio frequency (RF), power line communications (PLC), serial or Ethernet connections.  At its core, therefore, the smart grid is and will continue to be a network that utilizes multiple communications technologies.  At Ambient, we believe a really smart, smart grid strategy will enable utilities to continue to deploy a variety of different technologies in parallel and to connect on a single, scalable, common communications architecture to facilitate grid-wide monitoring, management and modernization.

Ultimately, utilities require a communication architecture that provides a foundation to scale and expand their smart grid initiatives, over time. Our innovative IP-based platform enables utilities to deploy and integrate multiple smart grid applications and technologies, supporting Smart Metering, Distribution Automation, Demand Response, Distributed Generation and more.  To find out more about the Ambient Smart Grid® communications platform and how it supports the incorporation of cellular with other communication technologies click here.

Leveraging enhanced functionality of a smart grid communications and applications platform for outage management to reduce operating expenses and “customer minutes lost”

From a utility perspective, when power is down, so is revenue.  Furthermore, regulators may penalize electricity distribution companies based on the number of customer minutes lost (CML) due to the outage.  It is little wonder, then, that to protect revenue, avoid costly regulatory penalties, and boost customer satisfaction, utilities across the nation plan to replace or upgrade their outage management solutions.

Utilities have a wealth of outage management applications to choose from, but stand-alone solutions do little to improve network reliability or minimize CML when the lines are down and customers are off-supply. Call centers, crowdsourcing and other innovative solutions all have their place in speeding up the outage notification process but they are not able to detect nested outages or link outages to specific transformers. A single application-only approach is costly and ineffective; the outage management process must be integrated with the distribution grid management system and workforce enablement solutions for line crews to respond quickly and efficiently to both minor and severe outages.

In a recent article published in Intelligent Utility, Raiford Smith, Director of Smart Grid Emerging Technology at Duke Energy, tells Kathleen Wolf Davis how data analytics impacts utility planning and how Duke Energy is choosing smart grid technology that helps leverage more value from the overwhelming quantity of data available.   The article explains how Duke Energy is creating a foundation to integrate disparate data sources (e.g. customer, electric grid, telecom, weather, cyber).   Duke Energy deploys a variety of technology including smart grid technology and communication solutions from Ambient.   Ambient Smart Grid® communications platform transforms the distribution grid into a series of data points allowing utilities to more efficiently manage a vast amount of distributed data.  Ambient's Smart Grid^® Nodes are a key component of the solution.  These are equipped with powerful processing and storage capabilities that allow for local management and control of smart grid data. This means that the utility can control what data are sent back to operations, what can be stored locally and what can be discarded – all of which can significantly reduce the ongoing communications costs of transmitting such data to the back office.

Newly elected U.S. Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy III (MA-4) visited Ambient Corporation yesterday where he met with company leadership and staff at Ambient’s headquarters based in his district. Ambient President and CEO, John J. Joyce, provided an overview of the company’s grid communications and applications platform and grid modernization efforts. Congressman Kennedy toured the facility and also observed a demonstration of AmbientPQM™, Ambient’s advanced power quality monitoring solution, which can be used to detect power outages.

The Congressman, who holds a degree in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University and serves on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, was named to the Energy Sub-Committee, which has jurisdiction over matters relating, among others, to energy research and development, demonstration projects and the commercial applications of energy technology and distributed power systems.  

Congressman Kennedy commended Ambient for its groundbreaking work in the development of open, standards-based smart grid communications technology.  He stated that, “the historic storms this country has faced over the past few years, coupled with the increasingly interconnected nature of our cities and towns, means that a modernized electric grid is not a luxury but a priority. I was especially impressed by Ambient’s efforts to prepare for the integration of renewable energy and low-carbon technologies – a must in our 21st-century economy.”

The Congressman received an Ambient MicroNode™ as a memento from his visit.  At Ambient we hope it will remind him that proven technologies that fundamentally enhance the electrical grid’s resiliency, reliability, and capability are available.

To view more pictures from the event, please visit our Facebook page.

According to IMS Research (now part of IHS Inc.), a leading analyst firm, revenues from sales of equipment related to power quality in North America are expected to grow from more than $400 million in 2011 to a projected $700 million in 2017. There are many obvious market drivers to support this forecast. Increased electricity demand and the integration of renewable and low carbon technologies are stressing already aging distribution grids.  Utilities are under pressure to maintain and improve efficiency and reliability.

The National Hurricane Center advises that “by knowing your vulnerability and what actions you should take, you can reduce the effects of a hurricane disaster”. This may be small comfort to those currently enduring or preparing for tropical storm Sandy. No one can predict the intensity or impact the storm will have when it hits the Eastern US coast. Based on current forecasts and destruction in the Caribbean, utilities are anticipating energy emergencies and preparing to respond to power outages.

As we tour Duke Energy’s Envision Center in North Carolina – we are reminded how a carefully thought out smart grid strategy can yield significant benefits from connecting multiple, disparate and legacy communications networks. According to a 2011 MetaVu Staff Audit and Assessment commissioned by the Staff of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio – thirty operating benefits were identified from Duke’s deployment, which were grouped into the following four key categories; avoided operations and maintenance costs, avoided fuel costs, deferred capital expenditures, and increased revenue.

Operating a utility is not a walk in the park, which is why coordinating a successful smart grid deployment that yields operational, financial and customer benefits is especially impressive.  In preparation for The Networked Grid, Greentech Media has announced winners of the Top Ten Utility Smart Grid Deployments in North America.

More news for Ambient coming from the floor of DistribuTECH 2012 in San Antonio (Booth #4220). Yesterday, we announced that our industry-leading  Smart Grid Communications Nodes now include the Qualcomm MDM6600 mobile broadband solution, adding a new level of communications flexibility to the Ambient Smart Grid communications platform. In conjunction with this addition, the Qualcomm enabled nodes have also been certified by Verizon Wireless for use in its highly reliable nationwide wireless network.