From advanced smart meters to mobile networks, the electric utility industry is undergoing a massive technological transformation.
With today’s super-fast wireless machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, the colossal computational power in ‘the cloud’ and smart analytics, utility operators today have more information than ever before to transform operations and the service that is delivered to consumers.
Today’s utility executive is faced with a myriad of challenges. Whether it is dealing with government regulations and mitigating risk to managing workers spread out in the field, there is no shortage of issues to keep utility managers awake at night.
Just as connected machines and mobile technologies are reshaping industries ranging from media to consumer electronics, they are also having a very real impact on the energy and utilities industry.
In an April 15 news release, IT research and advisory company Gartner, Inc. listed machine-to-machine and communications technologies as among the top technology trends for the energy and utilities sector in 2013.
With industry smart grid projects and grid modernization efforts over the past few years, M2M technologies are driving change with devices on both the utility and consumer ends of the spectrum. Over the past several years, utilities have been rapidly deploying M2M solutions such as advanced metering infrastructure and automated meter reading to modernize operations while promoting conservation and reliability in grid operations.
Verizon’s machine-to-machine connections play a key role in a sustainability initiative in Charlotte, North Carolina, known as Envision Charlotte. The company gathers the power usage data from a network of M2M devices and transports near real-time information to kiosks utilizing its 4G LTE network. The kiosks allow building occupants to track the city’s energy conservation efforts. A similar program is being launched for water.
As the smart grid comes of age, utility operators are now looking beyond individual projects to target other ways to improve operations and customer service using mobile technologies.
Some utilities are now turning to mobile technologies to securely extend enterprise networks to service vehicles. One large utility created rolling vehicle hot spots by outfitting service vehicles with mobile routers connected to the 4G LTE network. The vehicle area networks – or VANs – provide connectivity for laptops and other handheld devices, giving technicians access to maps, customer accounts, and meter information. These technologies, combined with the utility’s ongoing smart grid meter deployment, are effectively connecting the smart grid all of the way to the truck.
At the same time, telematics is starting to take hold. Generally, utility fleet managers with constantly rolling fleets are following the lead of their counterparts in other industries to adopt telematics.
Of course, virtually every utility already has access to information today about fleets, workers and work-orders. However, often the information comes in days or even weeks after the fact. In addition, it is especially important for utility fleets to stay on top of maintenance issues because vehicles are in constant use. Fleet telematics enables managers to anticipate problems and schedule maintenance.
Through Networkfleet, part of Verizon’s Telematics portfolio, an array of fleet monitoring and management capabilities improves employee efficiency and customer service, cuts fuel use, and reduces overall mileage.
With Networkfleet, operations and risk managers use technology to improve operations by managing speed, fuel consumption, drivers, and vehicles while optimizing vehicle use and routes using diagnostics to help hold the line on maintenance costs. Key features include GPS fleet tracking, asset tracking, fleet maps, vehicle diagnostics with alerts, roadside assistance, preventative maintenance, and other fleet management tools.
For example, in 2012 Eugene Water and Electric Board – Oregon’s largest customer-owned utility serving more than 87,000 customers – installed Networkfleet GPS tracking technology on its entire fleet of more than 220 vehicles. In the first year, the utility reduced fuel usage by 24 percent by lowering idle time and reducing unnecessary trips. After integrating GPS data and mapping, the utility found it could dispatch service trucks faster during power and water service interruptions.
The Eugene utility found that a key to reducing costs was the ability to monitor vehicle use. For example, the utility has 11 backhoes and only uses eight or nine of those regularly. By eliminating one ‘spare’ backhoe, the savings would more than pay for the entire GPS system for the year. With the web of sensors, meters, and advanced networks constantly gathering information, data is quickly becoming the utility company’s most valuable asset. This data can provide new insights into consumption and load management and better serve changing customer requirements.
Enter the cloud. Rather than have data and information sit on utilities’ servers, the introduction of cloud computing solutions and advanced communications solutions is changing the game. The cloud becomes an enabling platform that will help tie all of the pieces together for actionable data to help utilities make real-time decisions.
As customer and proprietary utility data increases, security will become more and more critical. Protecting the data – while managing access, identity, governance, risk, and compliance – is becoming increasingly important to utilities. In addition, the physical security of the components that make up this critical infrastructure must be secured as well.
It’s a new day in the utility industry. Overall, the more the utility industry embraces technology – like M2M and telematics, the cloud and advanced communications -- the more it will be able to improve its efficiency, lower costs and serve its customers better.
About the authors
Mike Brander is vice president of sales for the energy and utilities practice in Verizon Enterprise Solutions, part of Verizon Communications. In this role, Mike leads a team that oversees the seamless delivery of enterprise solutions to some of the largest and most influential companies within the energy and utility industry. Mike and his team work with large energy and utility companies to identify, create, and deliver solutions to meet the unique traditional and emerging business needs of the industry by leveraging Verizon’s world-class wireless and global Internet protocol networks, advanced machine-to-machine, telematics, cloud and security technology platforms, and professional consulting services.
Joshua Haims is general manager for Networkfleet at Verizon Telematics. Josh is responsible for collaboration and strategic direction and management of sales, marketing, business development, and product management of Networkfleet. Prior to joining Networkfleet, which was part of Hughes Telematics that Verizon acquired last year, Josh worked in a variety of corporate settings ranging from start-ups to established companies.
