EPB and Bell Labs raise IQ of Chattanooga smart grid

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Chattanooga, Tennessee's electric power distributor and communications provider EPB and Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs are taking EPB's goal of getting the highest electric service reliability and power quality to the next level.

In its continuing efforts to build the most advanced and automated smart grid in the U.S., EPB and Alcatel-Lucent are working to give its customers energy management options by coming up with techniques to analyze energy use at levels of detail not possible before. The  also will give the utility the ability to quickly find and fix problems before they affect customers' service.

EPB is widely deploying sensors and control devices throughout the grid that, when coupled with the utility's Alcatel-Lucent technology-powered fiber-optic network built earlier to deliver Internet and other services to its 170,000 customers, will give it the ability to measure, monitor and control the power distribution network in real time at those fine levels of detail.

"Our smart grid is intended to not only provide customers with the ability to better manage their energy use, but also alert us, and the user, in real time to any spikes in usage, so that immediate action can  be taken if there is a problem within a home or business," said Harold DePriest, EPB president and CEO.

The analytical techniques being developed by Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs also will give EPB the capabilities to more efficiently manage power purchases from its energy provider (TVA) during peak and off peak hours, with savings to be passed on to customers.

In October 2010, EPB began deploying S&C Electric's self-healing solution across the fiber optic network to help it restore power quickly in the event of a short circuit.

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