Honeywell Smart Grid Technology to Help Minnesota Manage Energy Consumption

Honeywell has announced a $15 million smart grid project with Connexus Energy, Minnesota’s largest customer-owned electric cooperative, to deploy smart grid technology to improve electricity service and reliability, and help the utility’s 130,000 members better manage their energy consumption.

“Our mission is simple: keep the lights on for our members by providing electricity in the most cost-effective, reliable and environmentally responsible manner,” said Greg Ridderbusch, CEO, Connexus Energy. “Honeywell’s smart grid technology will help us continue to meet these goals while providing a path for greater efficiencies and innovations in how we deliver electricity to one of Minnesota’s fastest-growing corridors — and how customers use it.”

Under the project, Honeywell will install more than 138,000 of its EnergyAxis connected meters in addition to its new SynergyNet mesh networking platform. The upgrades are set to be finished in 2018. Once in place, Connexus will use the energy consumption data from the meters to make billing more accurate, better manage usage, detect meter tampering and recover faster from outages. The system also provides two-way connectivity for additional energy management measures, giving the utility more options for future efforts, including demand response programs and time-of-use pricing.

 “Together, Honeywell and customers like Connexus Energy are fundamentally changing the way the world and our communities manage and use energy,” said Rob Tupker, President, Smart Energy, Home and Building Technologies, Honeywell. “This smart grid project supports the utility’s priority of sound energy management and delivery, while preparing the cooperative to take advantage of future opportunities and innovations to drive deeper savings for customers.”

This project builds on Honeywell’s other work with Connexus, which includes providing thermostats to Connexus Energy’s Wi-Fi Thermostat Rebate Program. The program provides customers with monetary incentives to install Wi-Fi programmable thermostats that enable users to adjust settings from anywhere, at any time, and can help them save on their heating and cooling costs.