As ‘smart grids’ pop up around the country, it is becoming more and more apparent just how different our Smart Grid truly is. The more we explore its potential, the more we discover its power.
As ‘smart grids’ pop up around the country, it is becoming more and more apparent just how different our Smart Grid truly is. The more we explore its potential, the more we discover its power.
With so much information now available, we need an incredible system to help us make this information useful for our operations and, ultimately, for our customers. But no such system existed, until we had one custom-built by Alcatel-Lucent and Bell Labs.
Our in-house engineers and technicians helped design this “SGMS”, and once it was built, we took it over. Integrated with our visualization tools and overseen by remarkable employees, the SGMS helps us make sense of data points coming in from all along the electric system. So we can offer more, and better, services to our customers.
Across the U.S., electricity theft adds up to nearly $100 million annually, in energy costs. This is enough energy to power 77,000 homes for an entire year.
When people steal power, they are making their neighbors pay the bill. But they also often damage equipment and create a safety risk for themselves and the homes or businesses around them.
Our engineers have created algorithms that watch for irregularities associated with power theft, and when they see activity that appears to be questionable, they can flag accounts, suspend service, and in some cases where there is a repeat offender, the lawbreaker might be turned over to our Legal Division, who may press charges. Helping hold down costs for everyone, and reducing safety risks throughout our community.
The Smart Grid Management System interfaces with a number of our operational systems. In addition to helping us reduce losses due to theft, the system lets us know immediately when a service to a residence or business is out - and even when it is restored, confirming the success of our field work.