Palo Alto, CA, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- March 15, 2013 - Two broad categories of consumer electronics technology are of interest to the utility industry – energy efficient consumer electronics, such as computers, tablets, power supplies, home audio, TV, and video, and connected home systems, including the various devices, appliances, com-munication, and software found in a residential ecosystem.

San Jose, CA, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- March 15, 2013 - New projects have been secured including a 20,000 follow-on smart meter order as part of a project in Basel, Switzerland and a 1,400 smart meter pilot in Vienna, Austria by Echelon Corporation.

The Basel project, which was awarded to Echelon partner Ubitronix System Solutions GmbH, is with Industrielle Werke Basel. The ongoing project in Switzerland’s third most populous city was won based upon the positive results from last year’s 25,000-unit Echelon smart meter deployment. In addition to remote reading of metering and power quality data by the utility, consumers will gain access to current consumption and rate information, remote control of electrical loads, the ability to integrate renewables, and control of rate structure.

Frankfurt, Germany --- (METERING.COM) --- March 14, 2013 - Rising energy costs and changing demographics will significantly stimulate the market for smart homes in Germany within the next 10 years, according to a new study from the German Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies (VDE).

By 2025 smart home features will be standard in upscale dwellings, in particular in new homes, says VDE, predicting that the country’s smart home market will grow to €19 billion by that year.

Springfield, IL, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- March 14, 2013 - Illinois’ House Bill 2529 clarifying language in the Smart Grid law enacted in 2011 is continuing its progress through the legislature with its unanimous approval yesterday by the House Public Utilities Committee.

The vote comes after the Senate Executive Committee’s unanimous passage of Senate Bill 9 last month.

New York, NY and Cambridge, MA, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- March 14, 2013 - The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Accenture have entered into a five-year research collaboration to develop advanced analytics solutions for the energy and other industries.

San Mateo, CA, U.S.A. and Richmond, BC, Canada --- (METERING.COM) --- March 13, 2013 - Mobile workforce automation and smart grid operations software provider Clevest Solutions Inc. has joined with eMeter to collectively develop and sell integrated software solutions to manage smart grid systems for utilities globally.

Abuja, Nigeria --- (METERING.COM) --- March 13, 3013 - The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory commission (NERC) has been given the go ahead to a “pre-pay” scheme aimed to accelerate the deployment of electricity meters amongst consumers who are currently unmetered.

The so-called “credit advance payment for meter installation” (CAPMI) scheme will enable customers who are willing to do so, to advance money to their distribution companies to install meters. The costs are then refunded by way of monthly reductions on the fixed charge element of their electricity bills.

Palo Alto, CA, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- March 12, 2013 - Choices for car buyers appear to be a key factor in the decision to buy electric vehicles, according to results from a survey of South Texas consumers conducted by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).

Of those surveyed, 81 percent expressed willingness to pay more for an electric vehicle (46 percent) or pay the same (35 percent) as a conventional vehicle, if it were available in the make and model of their choice.

Further, of those consumers giving serious consideration to buying an electric vehicle, 8 percent would choose a plug-in while 21 percent would choose a hybrid electric, pointing to growing consumer confidence in alternatives to conventional gasoline-powered vehicles.

The survey involved more than 2,000 residents under CenterPoint Energy in Houston and CPS Energy in San Antonio.

According to EPRI, the survey results point to consumer education as a primary factor in addressing uncertainties and misconceptions about electric vehicle performance and reliability. More new car buyers indicated an electric vehicle preference once they were familiar with electric vehicle operation and performance. 

London, U.K. --- (METERING.COM) --- March 12, 2013 - What technologies are available for provisioning home area network (HAN) connectivity to electricity and gas metering equipment, communications hub and in-home devices in cases where a 2.4 GHz ZigBee wireless HAN will not work effectively, Britain’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is asking?

In an Information Request issued March 1, it is stated that in up to 5 percent of properties in Britain – almost 1.5 million in number – the gas meter and/or in-home devices is likely to be out of range of communications hub radios operating in the 2.4 GHz or 868 MHz band, rising to 30 percent for 2.4 GHz only. This includes around 350,000 flats situated in high-rise buildings (greater than six storeys).

Sydney, Australia --- (METERING.COM) --- March 12, 2013 - Yarra Valley Water has implemented an Oracle Engineered Systems infrastructure to provide a standardized IT architecture aimed at helping the utility to improve business systems performance, achieve a better ROI and enhance customer service.

London, U.K. --- (METERING.COM) --- March 11, 2013 - Britain’s energy regulator Ofgem has set out the outputs that the country’s 14 electricity distribution companies (DNOs) need to deliver for their consumers and the associated revenues they are allowed to collect for the eight-year ‘price control’ period from 2015 to 2023.

Significant expenditure is needed in Britain’s gas and electricity networks over the next decade to ensure safe, reliable network services and to meet environmental challenges. Therefore, according to Ofgem, it is more important than ever that the network companies can show consumers they are getting value for money and that charges are contained.

Paris, France --- (METERING.COM) --- March 11, 2013 - A User Group Forum has recently been established by Capgemini as a new digital transformation offering for utilities, aimed to accelerate the adoption of digital by utilities and transform the way they interact with and understand customers, as well as drive efficiencies across their organization.

The User Group Forum will contribute to the innovation cycle by sharing thoughts on the vision of the future of utilities. This will enable customers to have direct access to studies, thought leaderships and technology demonstrations.  

In recent years, the realities of grid modernization, a more decentralized approach to energy generation, the more environmentally conscious customer and communities and the explosion of social media have all placed a big burden on utilities. Today, customers expect instant engagement with their power, gas or water provider, and many seek a more proactive role in managing their connectivity and energy use.

Concurrently connected objects in smart energy infrastructures, such as home energy automation, smart grid and smart city, are flooding utilities with data that their business and operational models are not equipped yet to extract the full value.

In a recent study Capgemini Consulting conducted with the MIT Center for Digital Business, it was found that 87 percent of utilities believe digital is ‘a key driver of their business performance’, but 62 percent do not believe they are investing enough in digital transformation. With this digital utilities transformation offering, Capgemini is aiming on bridging this gap and ensuring utilities providers are ready to adapt to the disruptive change digital has initiated within the industry.

“The importance of digital to internal processes and external customer processes cannot be overstated,” noted Philippe David, senior vice president, Utilities Leader for Capgemini Consulting. “There is a significant and measurable performance advantage for those organizations that have a highly developed or mature approach to digital transformation. Our digital utilities transformation offering helps these companies embrace digital, and initiate a cultural shift to a new operating level that delivers tangible business results.”

The digital utilities transformation framework enables utilities to assess their digital maturity, map their customers’ cross-channel ‘digital journey’, unlock and analyze powerful, actionable data and incorporate digital technologies like mobile and cloud into their enterprise architecture.

Framingham, MA, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- March 8, 2013 - Worldwide smart meter shipments surpassed 20.6 million units in the fourth quarter of 2012, representing year-over-year growth of 182.7% and a 33.9% increase over the third quarter of 2012, according to IDC Energy Insights’ latest worldwide quarterly smart meter tracker.

Palo Alto, CA, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- March 8, 2013 - With the scale of the advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) being deployed, with potentially millions of endpoints having cryptographic security functionality, the cryptographic key management system to manage this significant design requires consideration of several design attributes and constraints, according to a new report from the Electric Power Research Institute’s cybersecurity team.

Zamudio, Spain --- (METERING.COM) --- March 8, 2013 - Medium voltage electricity distribution network equipment and services supplier Ormazabal has acquired the American smart grid solution provider CURRENT Group.

According to a statement the acquisition reinforces the position of Ormazabal in the electricity sector, and reaffirms its traditional commitment to innovation.

Milan, Italy --- (METERING.COM) --- March 7, 2013 - The European Electricity Grid Initiative (EEGI) has published an updated version of its research and innovation (R&I) roadmap covering R&I activities for Europe’s electricity grids for the decade 2013-2022.

The new roadmap, which updates the first version of 2010, is aimed to take account of recent EU energy policy evolutions – in particular the move to a low carbon economy by 2050. Challenges to achieve this include the massive development of renewable generation at transmission level and its simultaneous integration with small residential units to the grid, the expansion of power electronics at generation level and within the grid, and more physically linked transmission and distribution systems.

Richland, WA, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- March 7, 2013 - A technology that will allow widespread adoption of plug-in electric vehicles without negatively impacting the electrical grid, and may ultimately result in lower costs for plug-in EV owners, has been licensed by Battelle to electric transportation solutions provider AeroVironment, Inc., of Monrovia, CA.

Rosslyn, VA, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- March 6, 2013 - The core principal of any major reconstruction effort following a major storm should be to “rebuild smart,” ensuring that reconstruction funds maximize the deployment of technologies to mitigate future power outages, save lives, and protect property, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) advocates in a new report.

St. Helier, Jersey --- (METERING.COM) --- March 6, 2013 - Jersey Water, which is in the midst of an island-wide metering program, is already experiencing the benefits, with total water supplied reduced by 1.9 percent in 2012 compared with 2011 and 3.6 percent on the five-year average, and leakage reduced by 4.5 percent.

Washington, DC, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- March 5, 2013 - Full modernization of the United States electric grid will require sustained effort over years and decades and there is no “one-size-fits-all” technology solution to modernizing the grid – this is why the fiscal year 2013 budget maintains strategic investments in smart grid research and development (R&D), standards development, and cybersecurity that focus on finding diverse, cost effective solutions, according to the latest report from the National Science and Technology Council.