133 US Cities Getting Smart Grid Tech

American Municipal Power (AMP), a non-profit wholesale power supplier for 133 municipalities in nine U.S. states, recently announced that it will work with Silver Spring Networks to implement an advanced metering infrastructure program, which could improve efficiency for up to 645,000 customers in AMP’s network.

In the initial phase, Silver Spring is set to deploy its standards-based IPv6 network platform and solutions to AMP so that it can help its member municipalities provide better customer experience and service for 60,000 electric and 30,000 water customers. Silver Spring also will deliver the SilverLink Control Platform and SilverLink Applications to speed implementation, minimize deployment risk, and reduce the total cost of ownership.

“Customer service is one of the hallmarks of public power and is thus a priority for AMP’s member communities,” said Marc Gerken, President and CEO, AMP. “AMP’s AMI program is designed to be another tool to assist member communities in maintaining a high level of customer service. This partnership with Silver Spring Networks facilitates the two-way communications technology that can help with our near-term goals such as enabling grid reliability, outage management and remote connect / disconnect, while providing a foundation that can enable the deployment of future smart grid and smart city services at the pace that benefits our membership.”

The program will allow municipalities to take advantage of IoT Smart grid technology without the burden and cost of staffing and expertise.

“Serving over 48 million people in the U.S., the public power sector has an opportunity to amplify its customer-centric vision through advanced smart grid technology,” said Eric Dresselhuys, EVP, Global Development, Silver Spring Networks. “We are thrilled to be partnering with AMP, and look forward to closely working with them to provide a range of benefits for its member communities.”

Time to power up.