Enhancing resilience for Chattanooga’s emergency services
EPB and the City of Chattanooga are partnering to build a cutting-edge microgrid that will be able to provide power to emergency response services for an indefinite length of time even when the normal circuits are damaged.
The Power to Protect project is a new collaborative microgrid project that increases the resilience and redundancy of the power supply to our public safety agencies via an on-site solar array, traditional backup generation, battery storage and a microgrid controller.
This combination of on-site power generation and storage provides redundant options for continuously delivering power to Chattanooga’s emergency response services. The Power to Protect project is a next-generation microgrid that benefits the whole community. In addition to enhancing the resilience of power delivery to police and fire services, Power to Protect will also be able to help reduce peak demand charges, which keeps costs lower for all our customers.
The total project cost is approximately $1.8M, with $732,000 coming from EPB in the form of a battery and microgrid controller and circuit modifications. The balance is funded by the City of Chattanooga's capital budget.
Taking a “Smart City” approach to improving traffic flows
A team of national smart city researchers has partnered with the University of Tennessee’s Center for Urban Informatics and Progress (CUIP) through a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop an Energy-Conscious Traffic Signal Control System. The idea driving the project is that better traffic flows mean that vehicles will consume less fuel while idling at traffic lights or inching along in stop-and-go traffic. The goal of the project is to reduce vehicle energy consumption by up to 20% and recover as much as $100 billion in lost productivity over the next ten years.
Utilizing EPB’s community-wide fiber optic network to collect the data and the expertise CUIP developed in establishing an Autonomous Vehicle Test Corridor on Downtown Chattanooga’s Martin Luther King Blvd., the team is gathering traffic information from across the city. Researchers are also utilizing data from the Tennessee Department of Transportation which has sensors roughly every half a mile that monitor traffic volume and speed for each lane.
Drawing on this rich source of community-wide traffic information, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are building a “digital twin” of Chattanooga that will allow them to monitor actual traffic conditions in real-time. In addition, the simulation will allow the researchers to make predictions based on changing conditions and test possible solutions for relieving traffic congestion, improving safety, and reducing vehicle fuel consumption.
Other participants in the research partnership include the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, University of Pittsburg, Georgia Institute of Technology and the City of Chattanooga.
Pioneering autonomous drones that can inspect infrastructure
Today, inspecting power infrastructure for signs of wear is a time-consuming and sometimes dangerous process. EPB field crews must visit each location and assess equipment that is often hard to reach. That’s why EPB is collaborating with the Unmanned Systems Laboratory at UTC to develop expanded Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technologies.
The 3-year research initiative led by Dr. Daniel Pack, UTC Dean of Computer Science and Engineering, seeks to develop methods for using autonomous drones to inspect power lines, substations and vegetation using thermal and video images.
UAV sensor data will be integrated into daily EPB operations to identify existing and potential issues in the electric system, and predictive modeling will be used to identify future issues on the electric system using data collected over time. The combination of these technologies would allow EPB to inspect more equipment in much less time and give us the opportunity to be even more proactive in addressing potential issues before they impact customers.
Currently, two fixed-wing UAV’s and two multi-rotor UAVs have been equipped with thermal and video cameras and methods have been developed for capturing streaming data. They are currently performing test flights to help develop image recognition algorithms. As research continues, we anticipate greater insight into how EPB can utilize these technologies to identify, assess and address potential problems more quickly and safely. In finding ways to do this, we will have opportunities to further enhance the resilience of the smart grid power distribution system throughout the community.
Preparing Chattanooga for the shift to electric vehicles
As all the major carmakers announce plans to shift 100% of their manufacturing operations to electric vehicle (EV) production, EPB is engaging to make it as easy as possible for our customers to benefit from this new technology.
In March, we partnered with CARTA and TVA to raise awareness about Chattanooga’s state-wide leadership in deploying a charging network that includes more than 130 locations. The #ChargingChattanooga campaign turned CARTA’s 14 fast charging locations into a scavenger hunt in which community members could win prizes. The program is a pilot project with the goal of optimizing future communications efforts.
In addition, the newly launched EPB Energy Pros℠ are actively sharing their expertise about how EVs deliver better performance and substantial savings along with the convenience of never having to go to a gas station and much less maintenance. EPB Energy Pros also offer expertise on home charging.
EPB has also begun rolling out a comprehensive EV strategy to provide even more charging infrastructure while raising awareness about the benefits of EVs and addressing the perceived barriers to making the transition to all-electric vehicles.
Winning National Smart City designations
EPB’s participation in Smart City research continues to draw national attention in support of positioning our community for more research funding and business investment.
Chattanooga won a National Smart City Award thanks to an effort for which EPB provided fiber optic internet services. The Center for Urban Informatics and Progress (CUIP), UTC’s independent smart city research center, won the award for the “911 Project” which is an accident prediction model using artificial intelligence. Student researchers at UTC created a computer model that accurately predicts when and where roadway accidents will happen based on historical emergency call center information, weather data and roadway geometrics.
Chattanooga was also chosen as one of just two cities in the U.S. to be part of the G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance to help pioneer a smart technology policy road map with 34 other cities around the world.
