Peninsula Light Company (PenLight) has appointed US carrier Verizon to upgrade its power distribution system in Washington State with an LTE-based system, comprising smart electricity meters and a data analytics platform.
Verizon will replace end-of-life meters with cellular IoT meters in 33,000 homes and businesses. These will be managed using its Grid Wide platform.
The Grid Wide platform-as-a-service offer allows utilities to remotely configure, monitor, and manage end-points within their service areas. The idea is to be more efficient and improve customer service.
PenLight, a member-owned electric cooperative serving the communities of Gig Harbor and the Key Peninsula in Washington, will also take advantage of better meter reporting, billing accuracy, and power outage management, including improved response times.
Verizon said it is working with a number of utilities in the US to introduce more advanced LTE-based power management systems.
Steve Szabo, head of Verizon’s global IoT products and solutions group, said: “Utilities want to offer customers the benefits of IoT technologies, but can face costly infrastructure upgrades to do so. Grid Wide is a highly scalable and robust environment that combines a rich, world-class IoT application suite with the nation’s largest, most reliable 4G LTE network.”
He said: “Peninsula Light will gain the insights it needs to improve operational efficiency, control costs, and offer an even higher level of service for its members.”
Jafar Taghavi, chief executive at PenLight, commented: “Verizon’s Grid Wide solution offers us a reliable, secure, managed cellular-based platform via which to run our distribution network…. It addresses our appetite for more system data as it relates to voltage, power quality and incremental demand, and offers reliable inputs to our outage management system.
He added: “Grid Wide allows our operations team to see issues earlier and respond faster while also helping keep costs low and service delivery as high as possible. Perhaps most importantly, Verizon’s solution gives us the ability to remain nimble within the rapidly changing dynamics of the electric utility industry.”
