Smart Grid. Smart Savings. T h advancd mtring systm IFP plans to install has providd immns savings to utilitis through mor fficint oprations from improvd load managmnt to thft dtction. Considr: A US Dpartmnt of Enrgy rport issud in Dcmbr analyzd 15 advancd mtr projcts, with initial findings indicating costs rlatd to mtr oprations droppd 13- to 77 prcnt, whil vhicl mils drivn, ful consumption and carbon dioxid missions fll btwn 12- and 59 prcnt. Nationwid, advancd mtring systms could rduc th cost of powr intrruptions by mor than 75 prcnt, saving th conomy mor than $150 billion a yar. A rcnt study by th Prfct Powr Institut stimats that modrnizing th nation s lctric grid could rsult in narly $600 in dirct savings annually for th avrag Amrican houshold. Fall Rivr Rural Elctric Cooprativ in Ashton finishd upgrading its 15,400 mtrs in Novmbr. It xpcts to sav mony through mor accurat masurmnt, bttr outag managmnt, rmot disconnct for nonpaymnt and a 2 prcnt rduction in lin losss. Idaho Falls stimats that complting mtr infrastructur upgrads could sav mor than $600,000 in annual oprating costs. Cntral Main Powr Company rcntly compltd its AMI ntwork and xpcts to sav $3.6 million in th first yar. Narly a yar into th upgrad, th utility has conductd mor than 7 million mtr rads rmotly, avoidd mor than 100,000 truck rolls and drivn 1.6 million lss mils. Th Sacramnto Municipal Utility District finishd rplacing all of its 600,000 mtrs in 2012. Th utility stimats th $350 million mtring systm will pay for itslf in svn yars. Salt Rivr Projct in Phonix stimats that th nw AMI mtrs hav savd mor than 341,000 hours in labor, avoidd driving mor than 1.7 million mils and consrvd 169,000 gallons of ful. Oklahoma Gas and Elctric finishd upgrading all 790,000 mtrs in its systm to AMI in lat 2012. Th nw systm is xpctd to sav narly $12 million in oprating and maintnanc xpnss in 2013. Prcntag of US customrs with AMI, 2011 >50% 20% 40% 10% 30% <10% AMI mtrs hav savd Talquin Elctric Cooprativ mor than $500,000 a yar. Th Elctric Powr Board of Chattanooga s wirlss communications systm, installd as part of its advancd mtring systm, allowd th utility to r-rout powr whn nin tornados hit in April 2011, avoiding 250 truck rolls and significantly rducing outag tim.
Th Mtr Mattrs. Manually rad Rmotly rad Yars in srvic 1912-1930s 1928-1940s 1940s-1950s 1950s-today 1990s-today 2012-today Rliably masurs consumption Can dsign rat structurs to bttr srv customr nds Mor accurat billing - no stimats Automatic diagnosis of problms Improvd customr srvic Accss to nrgy-us information Voltag and powr quality monitoring Outag dtction and notification Allows for customr-ownd gnration such as rooftop solar panls Thft dtction Additional Systm Bnfits Automatic diagnosis of problms Improvd powr quality Mor informd wholsal powr purchass Bttr load managmnt
T h vast majority of th mtrs in opration in Idaho ar advancd mtrs capabl of communicating with th utility company, ithr for mtr rading or as an intgral part of a communications ntwork btwn th utility and its customrs. Hr s a look: 126,347 All of Avista s lctric mtrs in Idaho ar advancd mtrs (AMR) 126,347 in all. 80% Mor than 80 prcnt of th mtrs opratd by Idaho s rural lctric cooprativs and municipal utility companis ar xpctd to b advancd mtrs (AMR or AMI) by th nd of 2013. 315,000 Did you know? Elstr, th manufacturr of th mtrs IFP has installd in th homs of voluntrs, has supplid mor than 200 million advancd mtrs worldwid sinc 2001. 200 million 15,400 1,070,942 Projctd numbr of advancd mtrs in Idaho by th nd of 2013 Fall Rivr Rural Elctric Cooprativ in Ashton finishd installing advancd mtrs (AMI) to all of its 15,400 customrs in Idaho, wstrn Wyoming and southrn Montana in Novmbr. Rocky Mountain Powr, which srvs approximatly 71,500 astrn Idahoans, has rplacd narly a third of its mtrs with advancd mtrs (AMR). AMR allows mtr radrs to collct thir data through driv-by radings. Intrmountain Gas Company has bn using AMR mtrs sinc 2003, whn it installd 225,000. Today, all 315,000 of th company s Idaho customrs hav an AMR mtr. 510,000 Idaho Powr has rplacd all of its rtail srvic mtrs sinc 2009 (AMI) 510,000 in all - following a pilot program launchd in 2004.
Improving th Grid. I daho Falls Powr s nw mtrs ar th most visibl aspct of its participation in th Pacific Northwst Smart Grid Dmonstration Projct, but th mtrs arn t th only upgrads in stor for th utility and its customr-ownrs. TROPOS Th wirlss communications ntwork IFP has built will work in tandm with th utility s xisting SCADA ntwork (Suprvisory Control and Data Acquisition), nabling systm oprators to activly monitor load and voltags along distribution lins byond substations and into th transmission lins that lad to customrs. Prviously, accss to this data was limitd to th substations. LOAD TAP CHANGERS AND VOLTAGE REGULATORS Ths dvics will know prcisly what voltag is ndd to rach a customr downstram instad of rlying on xprinc and off-lin modling to dtrmin a voltag rang. AUTOMATED SWITCHES If a fault is dtctd along th ntwork by automatd snsors or dtctors, ths dvics allow grid oprators to limit th harm causd by isolating th fault and rrouting powr around a disturbanc. VOLTAGE SENSORS Ths dvics, which communicat wirlssly, provid nginrs and grid oprators with voltag information from virtually any strtch of th distribution systm. Knowldg of low voltag points, oftn at th nd of a fdr lin, will allow IFP to oprat its distribution fdrs mor fficintly. E. Andrson Strt W. Andrson Strt 26 n sto rth No w llo. 26 U.S Y Lincoln Road Hitt Road (25th East) Lincoln Highland McDrmott Fild gat No rth John Adams way John Adams way ton ows Idaho Falls High School. Str t 9th Strt Kat Curly 12th Strt Eastrn Idaho Tchnical Collg Pointvn Grand Tton Mall Channing Way Woodruff Avnu St. Clair Road Holms Avnu 17th Strt Rollandt E. 25th Strt Community Tautphaus Tautphaus Zoo Road Sunnysid Road Sunnysid Road Eastrn Idaho Rgional Mdical Cntr Sunnysid Hitt Road (25th East) E. 25th Strt W. 25th Strt South Tourist City Campground Boat Landing South Boulvard Sou th Y llo wst on Sna k R Rollandt Avnu ivr 17th Strt City of Ammon al A v apit Elm S. C I-15 1st Strt rt Yll Av nu S. U tah Skylin High School Lomax Strt 1st Strt E St Downtown Ara Panchri Driv Cntral St. Clair Road way Av nu driv oad Mm Skylin Driv t Br oria l Ws Holms Av y wa Driv ark r P d Saturn Av. id rs Riv Riv Blv Mil y dsa 20 Sugar Mill Substation Woodruff Avnu W. Elva Ammon Road Grandviw 5 t 1 City rsta ak Int Salt L to Communications ntworks lik th on IFP has stablishd hav provn capabl of rducing pak dmand for powr by 1- to 2.5 prcnt. To Riri, Swan Vally, Palisads, and Jackson, WY Pincrst Municipal Golf Cours To Arco and INEL Industry stimats indicat th improvd control and awarnss mad possibl by AMI systms could rduc lin losss by up to 10 prcnt. At IFP, a 2-prcnt rduction in lin losss would sav $420,000 annually. Scinc Cntr Driv Lin Industry-wid, lin losss in distribution fdr lins rang from 5- to 13-prcnt of th lctricity producd to srv customrs. Vitnam War Mmorial 20 St. Lon Road Intrnational Way U.S. Highway 20 to Rxburg, Yllowston National Lwisvill Highway Foot Driv I-15 Russl A. Frman East Rivr Road To Montana North Boulvard CAPACITOR BANK Ths dvics ar usd to minimiz powr losss du to ractiv powr (which is causd by inductiv loads, such as motors, and can throw systm voltag out of whack too high or too low.) Essntially, capacitor banks rduc systm powr losss thus minimizing th amount of powr ndd on th systm.
Tsting For th Futur... IFP is tsting watr hatr and thrmostat controls in voluntrs homs in conjunction with th Smart Grid projct. If th dvics prov ffctiv, thy may b addd to th utility s suit of nrgy fficincy programs.