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Realizing the Promise of Advanced Metering
Often the foundation for a broader set of smart grid initiatives, Advanced Metering provides both utilities and consumers with extensive and up-to-date data on their energy efficiency programs.
Electric Power Research
Institute, 2003
The Silver Spring Advanced Metering solution provides high coverage rates, supports a broad range of meter vendors, and interfaces with utilities’ back-office meter data management (MDM) systems to simplify the collection of and billing for energy consumption. The solution also incorporates outage detection software and services to help utilities more quickly identify and resolve system outages.
The architecture of the Silver Spring smart grid network ensures high reachability for meters throughout a utility’s territory. Meters help form that network mesh, relaying data on behalf of each other to build redundancy and reach into the smart grid network design.
Silver Spring works with a variety of electric meter and gas meter vendors to integrate the Silver Spring Communications Module into their meters. The Communications Modules supports two connections – one into the utility’s smart grid network and another into the home area network (HAN). With this architecture, utilities can build the communications path for consumer empowerment as part of their Advanced Metering deployment.
The UtilityIQ Advanced Metering Manager application collects meter data and uses standard web services to integrate with the utility’s MDM system. The CustomerIQ application allows a utility to relay usage data to its customers and provides consumers with analytic and predictive tools to help manage consumption. Utilities can customize the CustomerIQ portal to incorporate rate schedules, time-of-use pricing information, pricing alerts, and other components of a Demand Response program.
The Silver Spring network leverages alerts from smart meters to inform utilities about outages. UtilityIQ Outage Detection System software filters that data and forwards only relevant, actionable information to a utility’s Outage Management System. This software and accompanying outage simulation tools enable utilities to improve service reliability for their customers and reduce operational costs related to outage preparedness and response.
