Increasing the efficiency and reducing the cost of energy use are key challenges facing the global energy industry. Two leaders in the power industry, GE Energy and American Electric Power (AEP), are combining forces to tackle those issues head-on.
GE and AEP have signed a memorandum of understanding to deploy advanced energy delivery and metering technologies that will give residential and industrial consumers greater control over their energy usage and costs.
GE Energy will provide products and technology while AEP will focus on the deployment of advanced metering and enhanced infrastructure technologies designed to change the way electricity is delivered to and used by customers. Plans call for the initial use of the technologies in two AEP distribution regions, totaling 200,000 customers, by the end of 2008, provided necessary regulatory approvals are completed.
“GE was built on innovation, with a long history of developing technologies to benefit our customers,” said John Krenicki, president and CEO of GE Energy. “This joint effort with AEP, which we believe will have a major impact on the way energy is used in this country and around the world, is just the latest example of that philosophy. This also complements our strategy in enabling an intelligent grid.”
The GE-AEP initiative “is the first in the industry to address the full energy pathway from the power plant to the home,” said Michael G. Morris, chairman, president and chief executive officer of AEP. “While others in the power industry are utilizing smart meters, our strategy goes far beyond that. We are integrating smart meters that will provide new options to our customers with enhancements to the distribution and transmission network.”
“Smart” meters are electronic meters featuring two-way communications, remote service switches, interval data, and time of use and demand recording.
The two companies bring a rich history of experience and expertise to the partnership. GE Energy is one of the world’s leading suppliers of energy technology and services, while AEP is one of the largest electric utilities in the
Customers in areas where the new technology is deployed will be given greater control over their electricity usage, which will help to reduce the demand for electricity. This could help ease the immediate need to increase the capacity of power plants or build new facilities to meet soaring power requirements.
Increasing efficiency through customer involvement and enhanced utility grid technologies also can be translated into reductions in fuel used by power plants, reducing greenhouse gases. “Because of the potential for long-term reductions in fuel and emissions, the new metering and energy delivery technologies evoke the spirit of GE’s ecomagination efforts,” noted Krenicki. Ecomagination is GE’s commitment to address challenges such as the need for cleaner, more efficient sources of energy, reduced emissions and abundant sources of clean water.
The technology platform considered for deployment by GE and AEP will feature automated controls on all electrical equipment, and the integration of existing decentralized control and data acquisition systems for use by central control systems. GE Energy’s existing portfolio of software, with its capabilities to integrate, analyze, monitor and operate transmission and distribution assets, will be implemented as part of the technology platform. Other GE business units also may contribute to the technology mix.
A focus of the joint development effort will be to provide consumers with tools that will help them make informed decisions about managing and reducing their energy consumption. For example, a potential innovation could include developing an energy wall display unit with real-time consumption feedback that could provide consumers with information at their fingertips to decide how to use energy in the most cost effective way.
The technology program also will readily provide utilities with information to detect the cause and specific location of an outage, isolate the area and automatically restore service to as many customers as possible before the first service crew arrives.