Pacific Power signs Silver Spring for AMI connectivity

Metering.com 12 MAY 2016

In the US, power utility Pacific Power signed a contract with smart energy network provider Silver Spring for the rollout of an advanced metering project in Oregon.

The agreement will allow the solutions provider to deploy its technology Gen5 IPv6 for a two-way communication of the advanced metering infrastructure.

In a combined statement, the utility serving over 740,000 consumers in Oregon, Washington and California said it selected the platform to “better serve its 600,000 customers in 180 communities, improve grid maintenance and reliability in Oregon.”

Stefan Bird, CEO of Pacific Power said: “Our smart meter investment is another key step towards the energy grid of the future here in Oregon.

“By partnering with Silver Spring Networks, we will be able to offer our customers real benefits, while generating savings that exceed the costs over the life of the meters,” added the CEO.

The first stage of the Pacific Power AMI and customer engagement project is expected to begin this year with the deployment of the smart meters set to begin in early 2018 through to mid-2019. [Jamaican utility selects Silver Spring for smart grid project].

AMI in the US

The news follows late April’s recognition of power utility Baldwin EMC’s advanced load management programme at the 2016 CS week in Phoenix.

The utility’s automated metering infrastructure programme was awarded the best devices, data and analytics project.

Baldwin EMC’s programme, Centsible Power demand response, deployed Landis+Gyr’s GridStream AMI technology for advanced metering and load management.

Commenting on the success of the project, Alan Schott, vice president of financial services at Baldwin EMC said: “The implementation of two-way advanced metering infrastructure has transformed Baldwin EMC operations more than any other project in the co-op’s history.”

He said in addition to demand response, the project has also allowed a high level of grid management and efficiency savings including a reduction in consumers’ bills, improved assets protection and outage detection through voltage analyses.

The project provides consumers with various energy saving tools including a mobile app for remotely monitoring and adjusting thermostats and appliances.