Texas Utility Plans Mass Residential Smart Meter Rollout Using a Public Wireless Network as the Communications Backbone

Texas-New Mexico Power (TNMP) filed a formal request this week with the Public Utility Commission of Texas to roll out 231,000 smart meters over the next five years. TNMP selected SmartSynch’s Residential SmartMeter solution following a successful 10,000-unit pilot in 2009. According to SmartSynch, a Mississippi-based Smart Grid technology company utilizing standard IP communications via public wireless networks, the $123 million TNMP project is the largest mass residential deployment of smart meters using a public wireless network – in this case AT&T’s – as the communications backbone.

Quick Take: Just recently Jesse Berst wrote about the promise of the TNMP pilot, which saw an impressive 99.96% average daily read rate that was achieved across multiple Texas geographies (which is why public wireless networks have so much potential for smart metering). And, as SmartSynch CEO Stephen Johnson points out: “Commercial wireless carriers now realize the growth opportunity, and have radically reduced their pricing to make our solutions more cost effective than mesh network solutions.”  

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