Metering.com 27 APRIL 2017
US utility Entergy Arkansas selected cloud-based energy management solutions provider Comverge for the rollout of a demand response pilot programme.
Called the ‘Bring your own device’ (BYOD), the demand response programme enables customers of Entergy Arkansas to purchase Wi-fi contolled smart thermostats to reduce energy usage during peak demand periods.
Dave Neal, CEO of Comverge said: “The new BYOD demand response pilot enables Entergy Arkansas to better engage customers with Wi-Fi thermostats, while also creating a potential new source of capacity.”
The utility will use the BYOD demand response pilot together with its existing Summer Advantage residential demand response programme to help consumers reduce their energy costs.
The solutions provider will provide the utility with its IntelliSOURCE Connect to allow management of the BYOD and Summer Advantage residential demand response programmes using a single platform.
Entergy Arkansas aims to use the two demand response programmes to reduce its operational costs and carbon emissions by avoiding fossil-fuelled energy generation and not investing in new energy generation resources.
The programmes will provide the utility with a swift shift to renewable energy generation. [PNM selects Comverge for rollout of DR initiative]
Smart grid advancement
In the last quarter of 2016, owners of Entergy Arkansas selected OMNETRIC Group for the deployment of a smart grid project.
In a press statement, Entergy Corporations said it will use smart grid solutions and services to be deployed by OMNETRIC to enhance management of its energy distribution and retail systems.
OMNETRIC Group is a consortium of energy consulting firms including, Accenture, and smart grid solutions provider, Siemens.
The consortium will provide Entergy with an advanced metering infrastructure solution to improve the utility’s billing system.
The consortium firm will design, test and implement Siemens’ Meter Data Management (MDM) within the utility’s energy system.
The MDM solution is expected to provide Entergy with two-way communication with its customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Orleans and Texas.
The project will improve Entergy Corporation customer services to its 2.9 million electric and 200,000 gas consumers in the utility’s five service territories.
OMNETRIC claims that its solution will enhance the utility’s management of smart meter data resulting in the development of new energy management programmes to help customers improve their energy efficiency and reduce electricity bills.
The MDM solution will help the energy provider to ensure it achieves a reliable grid network through the provision of real-time data on events occurring within the grid network.
The smart grid project is being deployed through to April 2019 and falls under efforts by Entergy to modernise its grid system.
Image credit: 123rf.