Utilities are now getting much more data about their equipment via meters, sensors and other intelligent devices and seeing the benefits of software that can pull together all that information and make sense of it. As a result, strategic asset management is entering its next phase, which is the focus of our latest eBook developed with the experts at UTILICASE. Download the free eBook to learn how your utility can glean the benefits of advanced analytics to develop a more strategic asset care program.

As part of its gridSMART program, AEP Ohio is investigating the impacts of several new distribution technologies, including Volt/VAR optimization, energy storage, DR, EVs and distributed solar PV. Working with Battelle, they developed what looks to be one of the most powerful simulation tools yet.

If you're curious about the value utilities are actually realizing from advanced analytics, BGE's collaboration with Accenture is a good place to start. Click for a look at the process they're using and some of the intriguing analytics apps they are running to solve real business problems.

Southside Electric Cooperative (SEC) is a rural system serving 55,000 members in 18 counties in Southern Virginia. As this case study explains, in 2010 the co-op completed a Reliability Improvement Plan that justified an investment in distribution automation. Once it had selected hardware and software, SEC had Power System Engineering assist in selecting its backhaul communications solution. This study highlights that process.

Click to download the presentation materials from SGN's Nov. 1, 2012 webinar featuring panelists from Oklahoma Gas & Electric and IBM who shared an "under the hood" look at OG&E's highly praised smart grid deployment.

After the Northeast blackout of 2003 that affected over 55 million people in the U.S. and Canada, situational intelligence became the centerpiece of California ISO's new state-of-the-art control center to help ensure a similar crisis doesn't happen in California. This case study from Space-Time Insight discusses the solution Cal ISO chose and results.

PowerStream is one of few North American utilities moving forward with centralized automatic switching decision-making on its distribution network. Using the Survalent SCADA software system and leveraging existing automated switches in the field on all 27.6kV feeders connected to two transformer stations, the Ontario, Canada utility is performing a two-stage trial of automated system restoration following a feeder fault that trips the feeder breaker. Get details in this case study.

This paper presents a case study of SRP’s smart grid programs. The impetus for this study was SRP’s award of a $56.9 million investment grant to expand its smart meter network awarded by the Department of Energy through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. However, SRP’s smart grid investments reach far beyond customer-centered smart meter applications. SRP’s unique governance and regulatory structure has allowed it to focus on essential smart grid backbone infrastructure supporting the full spectrum of its power system.

This paper presents a case study of SMUD’s Smart Grid programs, namely SmartSacramento, which encourages customers to be part of the energy solution. It involves enhanced technology infrastructure, Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), distribution automation, demand response, customer applications such as web access to energy usage and analysis, a consumer behavior (pricing) study, cyber security and partner projects.

The stakes get high once a utility installs an AMI communications system. Communications failures can negatively affect reliability. Ouch. And negatively affect the cash register. Ouch, ouch. That's why a fully integrated network operating system may be a smart - though challenging - solution, as Pepco discovered.

Leading Australia's “Smart Grid, Smart City” project, Ausgrid has set the goal of developing a new smart grid architectural design for its organization. As part of this new strategy, as this case study details. the utility is establishing a design that can be used for all new substations to support modern approaches to protection and control, condition monitoring, and other services.

With its experience across many different utilities in many different parts of the world, Accenture has a great vantage point for spotting patterns and best practices. That's why we thought you'd be interested in the six skills Accenture has found to be essential for success in smart metering.

This IDC Energy Insights report reveals the major findings of a recent cloud computing survey. The survey sought to improve understanding of the nature of current cloud environments, preferences for delivery models (private, public, and hybrid), future plans for cloud deployments, workloads and business processes suitable for cloud, and preferences for specific cloud services.

For a number of years the Iowa Lake Electric Cooperative board and members expressed interest in participating in the wind energy industry, but the business case didn't seem to be there. However, persistence won out eventually and through a number of unique win-win partnerships, ILEW became a successful player in Iowa's wind industry as this case study details.

The communications network is the foundation of a smart grid. Get the network right and you can leverage it for years. Get it wrong and you may hit a performance ceiling. Recently, engineers from Qualcomm studied more than 1,500 smart grid use cases to determine the five most crucial communications issues. Then they tested different technologies against eight different applications (including meter reading, outage management and distribution automation). Click to learn more about the five key issues, about how cellular stacks up and where to get the test results.