Working with vendors to build stronger electric co-ops

co-optech

ARE YOU READY FOR THE INTERNET OF THINGS?

IoT, a brave new world where more objects than people talk to each other via the Web, will provide co-ops unprecedented details about system conditions
By Courtney Barry

inton Gray Vint Cerf, Googles chief Internet evangelist and proclaimed Father of the Internet, recently made this prediction to Smithsonian magazine: In coming decades, virtually any [home] appliance is going to be online. Appliances will talk to each other and to the power generation system. In essence, our appliances will pay attention to our preferences. Cerfs remarks focused on just one aspect of whats been termed the Internet of Things (IoT). As dened by Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (cisco.com), a leading telecommunications infrastructure developer, IoT simply refers to a point in time when there are more things tied to the Internet than people using it. Think of it as moving away from an Internet of

documents and graphics linked through electronic pages toward one of interconnected objects. Currently, IoT consists of disparate, purpose-built computer networks. Electric co-ops, for their part, manage multiple interchange systems to run things like phones, high-speed broadband, smart grid applications, and security. Down the road, IoT will allow every aspect of a co-ops operations to tie together!and simultaneously offer more strategic analytics and better management capabilities. The Internet of Things demands solid communications infrastructure and interoperability standards, explains Craig Miller, technology liaison for NRECAs Cooperative Research Network (CRN). Through NRECAs MultiSpeak Initiative, standard interfaces

between commonly used distribution system software applications are being developed!specications now enable interoperability among more than 30 different technologies and automation tools. And co-ops are already using a smaller Internet of Things in deploying system automation technologies!notably sensors and controllers!to actively manage the grid. But the volume of data associated with that is going to increase by

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a factor of 10,000 to 100,000 over the electromechanical setup we largely have today. When it comes to the Internet of Things, the future for electric co-ops is all about visionary, yet practical and agile, management. As envisioned, IoT!when fully eshed out!will allow electric co-ops faster movement of information and better visibility about whats happening across their utility systems than is possible today, stresses Sanket Amberkar, senior manager of energy & smart grid marketing at Cisco. In turn, that will bolster operational efciencies. Communications architecture!ensuring sufcient bandwidth capacity so smart grid components can interact as designed, uninterrupted and at high speed!remains the key to IoT. Addressing that concern, Maple Grove, Minn.-based Great River Energy, a generation and transmission co-op (G&T) serving 28 distribution co-ops in Minnesota and Wisconsin, chose the Cisco3200 Series Rugged Integrated Services Router as its substation communications platform to monitor faults, anomalies, and service interruptions. In making the decision, Scott Hughes, Great River Energy principal IT network engineer, looked for a product that was standards-based, could easily talk with interconnected devices, and robust enough to function despite rugged terrain served by the G&Ts members. We wanted all of our communications handled with a single scheme so every piece of down-line equipment could communicate with substation applications, Hughes indicates. We hoped to build a system for the future, a future where our co-ops will run networks on top of networks with billions of connections. To deal with complex IoT operability and communications issues, Don Bowman, manager of engineering for Wake Electric Membership Corporation, based in Youngsville, N.C., notes his co-op employs a combination of six private and public communications networks, including cellular and digital subscriber line backhaul for its Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) systems, as well as microwave for remote repeaters and mobile dispatch. Its amazing how many vendors will say,

Were going to put this out in the eld, and youre going to be able to get data back over your existing communications, Bowman muses. They will tell you their equipment is agnostic and can interconnect with anything, but they rarely understand what your communications capabilities are. Electric co-ops have historically been pole, meter, and conductor enterprises!not telecom companies. For its purposes, Wake Electric employs a combination of technologies, including a Sensus (sensus.com) FlexNet AMI and a cloud-based meter data management system (MDMS) from Lake Saint Louis, Mo.-based National Information Solutions Cooperative (nisc.coop), which veries and validates data from the AMI system. The co-op has also piloted a web-hosted data analytics solution with Verdeeco (verdeeco.com), which builds applications on AMI, SCADA, and geographic information system data. Selecting a cloud-based MDMS was based on cost and IT resources, Bowman reports. If were not processing or storing data locally, then were not paying for more infrastructure than we need.

luebonnet Electric Cooperative, a Bastrop, Texas-headquartered distribution system, recently teamed up with Consert (consert.com) on a two-year pilot program to help 200 residential members shave electric consumption during times of peak demand, when power costs skyrocket. Major energy-consuming appliances in a house!such as HVAC systems, pool pumps, or electric water heaters!along with smart thermostats, were hooked up to control devices, says Jeff Ebihara, Consert vice president. This created a ZigBee-enabled home area network that communicated with the co-op via a Verizon Wireless 3G gateway installed in the smart meter. Bluebonnet members were able to log on to a website to monitor and manage electric loads by adjusting thermostats and turning off appliances. Co-op control center staff also had the ability to remotely adjust thermostats and appliances. In the end, the co-op realized an average load reduction of 1.5 kW per participant. Its just another demand-response mechanism we have available to reduce our wholesale power costs, points out Bluebonnet CEO Mark Rose. We recognize some consumers will never desire a lot of high-tech conveniences. But as time goes by, more and more members will come to expect the services and reliability made possible by IoT.

He adds: Were also using Aclaras [aclaratech.com] TWACS [two-way automatic communications system] AMI to perform demand-side management on the system side. Together, its just a small example of how an interconnected network benets the member. Jimmy Autry, senior vice president of member & community relations at Flint Energies, based in Reynolds, Ga., believes most co-op consumers understand that the Internet has made their lives easier!almost all own some interconnected electronics, ranging from iPhones and TVs to computers and gaming consoles. Along those lines, Flint Energies is testing in-home displays for demand response as part of the $68 million CRN Smart Grid Demonstration Project. Under the initiative, half funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, 23 co-ops from 12 states are testing more than 75 communications and automation technologies to effectively monitor demand and system conditions on a real-time basis. We wanted to nd out if we sent a signal to members showing when more expensive times of use occurred!mostly during summertime weekday afternoons!while displaying their consumption on an in-home unit, whether they would make any changes, Autry comments. For the study, 150 Flint Energies volunteers received devices; 150 did not. Those without in-home displays were alerted to impending demand peaks by e-mail, text message, or a phone call. A third control group!also composed of 150 members! was left uninformed. In the end, folks who had received in-home displays or notications saved from $2 to $32 on their monthly electric bills. However, Autry believes co-ops cant fully maximize Internet-based services until members become more focused on their electric-use habits. I estimate 55 percent of our members just get a bill and pay it and never have any conversation with us. Theyre just not searching for ways to save or interact further. The key for success with member services in coming years involves exciting members about new technologies!especially because most of those services will be rooted in software and applications. n Mention of a commercial product or service on these or other editorial pages of this publication does not imply endorsement by RE Magazine or NRECA.!Perry Stambaugh, Editor

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