Ooh, What a Little MHz Can Do

For 45,000 residents of Minneapolis, the Smart Grid is nothing new. In fact, the Wright Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association has been providing Smart Grid functions of AMI and AMR as well as automation and communication of substation SCADA data for an entire year now. The secret of their success, according to a press release published this week, is a private licensed 700 MHz wireless system from Arcadian Networks.  The cooperative had previously tried a frame relay, DSL, and some of their own 900 MHz wireless systems. But only Arcadian Networks’ private system gave them the dependability they needed.

   Quick Take: Utilities cannot afford intermittent communications in times of peak usage. If data about peaks is unreliable or intermittently unavailable, they can’t make intelligent load management decisions.  As Lance Hovland, VP Energy Distribution for Wright Hennepin says, “We need high reliability communications from substations to headquarters.” In some cases, private networks may offer advantages in real-time, two-way communications that other communications systems can’t.

   Press release