By Francois Vazille
Globally, utilities have made a significant investment in smart meters but have only scratched the surface of what’s possible with information. And that doesn’t even include the millions of data points that internal utility systems, such as supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, are collecting daily.
In this new data-rich world, utilities need to leverage their advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) investments to strengthen both the customer and operational sides of their business. Using the cloud, analytics, artificial-intelligence (AI) and machine learning to better harvest and mine that data for actionable insights. Here’s how:
Creating better relationships with customers
The utility grid is becoming much more than a two-way connection between customer and utility. It is transforming into a dynamic, multi-dimensional relationship between customers, utilities, and a plethora of energy resources, from the solar panels on rooftops to the electric vehicles on the roads.
As the smart grid begins to live up to its full potential, utilities can live up to theirs, going from commodity providers into market makers that connect customers to a broad spectrum of services, from electric vehicle (EV) charging to buying back unused energy from a customer’s personal energy storage devices, such as solar panels.
Takuya Kajikawa, the general manager of a distribution control engineering group, Chubu Electric Power Grid Co. recently noted that “Serving our customers and reducing energy are key goals and ones we can’t achieve without continuous data.”
The Japanese utility hit a milestone of seven million smart meters last year, with a goal to have 10 million in market by 2023. With the data from its existing smart meters and its meter data management system, Chubu Electric Power Grid Co. is better able to visualize energy usage to improve the efficiency of its power generation and power transmission facilities to better serve its customers.
For example, the utility can use meter data to see when a customer is reaching their target energy usage and alert them. Likewise, the utility can see how much energy a household has used from its rooftop solar PV and allow customers to divert excess energy to a family member.
But this is only the beginning. By analysing this data, Chubu Electric Power Grid Co. has future plans to enable electricity retailers in the Chubu region by being able to continually refine and improve service, including fee calculation and flexible pricing menu proposals. This could include implementing Time of Use (TOU) rates to support the efficient use of electric power by customers while reducing energy load during peak demand times.
Fueling new revenue sources
Pandemic-related disruptions have served to underscore the industry’s need to focus on key areas of digital transformation and distributed energy resources (DER) management, which ensure grid stability amid load shifting.
One area that is growing in interest from utilities is EVs, whose demand continues to rise despite the tough economic market. Not only do EVs stand to support certain regions’ aggressive decarbonisation goals, but they also can offer utilities a promising new revenue source. But at what cost to already over-taxed grids?
If the growth of electric vehicles continues at its present rate, utilities will grapple with peak load impacts at the grid edge, particularly on hot days. A single EV has the potential to double the demand of a typical home.
For utilities that have embraced AMI, the technology that will make EVs a dynamic force in energy balancing already exists. The next step is leveraging the cloud to speed and enhance data collection and applying analytics to inform decision-making on how to best balance supply and demand on the grid.
For example, the record heat seen in areas including Australia and California last year is fostering even more interest in vehicle-to-grid (V2G), or bidirectional charging. In this model, EVs effectively act as energy storage modules that utilities can use to “buy back” energy to send power back onto the grid when needed.
Leveraging AMI data to get ahead of the EV movement is a great opportunity for utilities to provide leadership by creating smart charging programs that engage customers and help them become more active participants of the grid.
Meeting aggressive decarbonisation goals
Countries all over the globe are recognizing the impacts of climate change and putting aggressive decarbonisation goals in place. AMI investments that can feed continuous data into core back-and-front end-systems is critical in this quest.
For example, leading French DSO GRDF is using smart meters and meter data management to further realise its vision of improving energy management and enhancing customer satisfaction.
“The move to smart meters and implementation of new digitized functionalities are critical to delivering a natural gas network that fosters energy transition for our territories,” said GRDF director for smart gas metering programme Vincent Pertuis.
“With Oracle MDM, GRDF will be able to use data to continue to reimagine how we serve customers, accelerate decarbonisation, and increase the flexibility and reliability of our network.”
Decarbonisation or reaching net-zero carbon emissions is also a growing movement across Asia. According to a National Environment Agency article, Singapore is committed to reducing its “Emissions Intensity (EI) – the amount of GHGs emitted per dollar GDP – by 36% from 2005 levels by 2030, and to stabilise emissions with the aim of peaking around 2030.”
To reach these aggressive goals, utilities need to take a holistic look at their operations and where emissions are coming from.
These examples show that smart meters, coupled with modern cloud-based customer information systems and advanced analytics are accelerating innovation and widening the gap between leading and lagging utilities.
These benefits go far beyond enhancing billing by enabling electric, water and gas utilities to better engage customers, improve operations, and tackle climate change.
While COVID-19 vaccines are beginning to provide that necessary ray of hope that normalcy is on the horizon, for utilities, the economic fall-out of the pandemic will be felt for decades to come.
Perhaps data is not the “new oil,” but it’s certainly an essential lifeline utilities need to solve old problems and create new opportunities to navigate and thrive in the new normal. – April 24, 2021
Francois Vazille is the vice president in JAPAC & MEA at Oracle Utilities.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
