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Smart grid projects

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Painesville vanadium redox battery demonstration

The City of Painesville, Ohio and its partners will demonstrate vanadium redox battery storage capacity at the 32 mega-watt, coal-fired Painesville Municipal Power (PMP) plant. Using stored power enables the facility to obtain the same daily output requirement in a more efficient manner with a lower carbon footprint. When fully implemented, the plant will operate at a constant 26 MW, 80 percent of rated capacity. The long-term goal is to scale the battery system in stages, finally upgrading the facility to 100 percent storage capability. 1 MW of capacity with 6 to 8 hours of storage will be installed in the first phase. This capacity is sufficient for Painesville to optimize their power generation efficiency and allow American Municipal Power to level the peak demands of the system. The battery components will be produced in the U.S., stacks will be assembled in Painesville, and installation will be in the PMP facility. Get details >>

FirstEnergy smart grid modernization initiative

FirstEnergy’s smart grid modernization initiative includes deployment of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), distribution automation assets, time-based rate programs, load control, and customer systems in New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. AMI for residential and commercial customers enables two-way communication and helps customers manage energy use and bills. Distribution automation includes capacitor and regulator controls and feeder switches. Direct load control devices are being deployed to reduce peak demand. The project also includes a statistically rigorous consumer behavior study to assess load impacts and customer acceptance of time-based rate programs. Get details >>

AEP Ohio gridSMART demonstration project

AEP Ohio and its partners are building a secure, interoperable, and integrated smart grid infrastructure in Ohio that demonstrates the ability to maximize distribution system efficiency and reliability, and consumer use of demand response programs to reduce energy consumption, peak demand costs, and fossil fuel emissions. The demonstration area includes 150 square miles including parts of Columbus, Bexley, Gahanna, New Albany, Whitehall, Reynoldsburg, Westerville, Blacklick, Johnstown, Alexandria, Minerva Park, and Pataskala. This area includes approximately 110,000 meters and 70 distribution circuits. AEP Ohio will implement smart grid technology over 58 13kV circuits from 10 distribution stations and 12 34.5kV circuits from six distribution stations. Included in this project is a redistribution management system, integrated volt-VAR control, distribution automation, advanced meter infrastructure, home area networks, community energy storage, sodium sulfur battery storage, and renewable generation sources. These technologies will be combined with two-way consumer communication and information sharing, demand response, dynamic pricing, and consumer products, such as plug-in hybrid vehicles. Get details >>

Wadsworth Connected Grid project

The City of Wadsworth’s Connected Grid project involves system-wide deployment of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and targeted installation of in-home displays, home area networks, programmable communicating thermostats, load control devices, and distribution automation equipment. The smart meters provide two-way communication, allowing customers to view their energy use and Wadsworth to better monitor customer demand. Load control devices and programmable communicating thermostats help Wadsworth manage its peak load and reduce electricity costs for customers. Wadsworth is also upgrading and expanding its distribution automation equipment, including installation of automated reclosers (feeder switches) and capacitor bank controls. This is expected to improve reliability, reduce operations and maintenance costs, and decrease distribution energy losses. Get details >>

Energy news and trends

Duke gets the jump on smart grid

Duke has already deployed a smart grid system of about 600,000 meters in a region of Ohio it is now managing, including roughly 230,000 smart electric meters, 165,250 smart gas meters and 43,759 communication nodes along the wires. Duke has also deployed pilot programs in its local region of the Carolinas, with about 16,000 meters of smart grid in North Carolina and about 2,000 in South Carolina. Read more from AOL Energy >>

Geologists study energy source underground

Geologists and energy experts say that using heat from the earth as a power source, and to heat and cool houses and businesses, might prove to be a clean-energy alternative for Ohio and other states. Read more from the Columbus Dispatch >>

Metering and community energy storage "firsts"

S&C Electric's lithium-ion-based community energy storage system (CES) will be installed at customers' homes in an AEP Ohio test project for the technology. The storage systems will provide CES-equipped customers up to several hours of backup power during outages. Read more from Smart Grid News >>

Ohio gets first big wind farm

The first commercial, large-scale wind project in Ohio started producing energy last week, thanks to the state's policy support for clean energy. Read more from Sustainable Business >>

Van Wert fast becoming Ohio's wind farm capital

Van Wert is becoming the center of wind energy in Ohio. Some 210 wind turbines operate near the city in western Ohio and at least 550 more are planned for the region. Read more from EVWind.com >>

Statehouse installs electric vehicle chargers

The Ohio Statehouse has become just the second state capital building in the country to offer visitors electric vehicle charging stations, the Youngstown Vindicator reports. Read more from Columbus Business First >>

Ohio manufacturers hit energy jackpot

For manufacturing businesses, in today’s economy, every dollar counts. Saving $100,000 a year can make the difference between staying in business in Ohio and chucking in the towel. And $100,000 is approximately how much money small-to-midsized Ohio manufacturers save, on energy, after free, one-day energy assessments by University of Dayton engineering Professor Kelly Kissock and his teams of graduate students. Read more from Today's Energy Solutions >>

Lessons learned from SmartGridCity and Duke Ohio

You get fascinating insights when you are hired to "grade" smart grid projects, as I learned from a recent chat with Paul Alvarez. Paul is a principal at MetaVu, the firm that performed third-party evaluations of Xcel's SmartGridCity and Duke's Ohio smart grid project. After completing those and other consulting assignments, Paul notes three emerging trends. Read more at Smart Grid News >>