Honeywell (News - Alert) has announced it will provide three power plants in the United States with managed smart grid services designed to offer a simpler way to manage very technical smart grid networks, and enable improved electricity service and reliability for customers.
The Honeywell subscription services offer an alternative for smaller utilities, which typically have fewer IT resources and that choose not to own and manage their own advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) software.
Honeywell will be working with municipal utilities in the cities of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, St. John, Kansas, and with Yakama Power in Toppenish, Washington.
“Utilities have to provide power in a consistent and reliable way, but grid modernization makes this complex because it involves choosing the right smart grid framework and ensuring its ongoing management,” said Nitin S. Kulkarni, president, Smart Energy, Honeywell Home and Building Technologies. “This can be particularly challenging for smaller communities and their IT resources. Honeywell’s expertise and connected services reduce risk and provide added resources to level the playing field for all utilities so they can focus on their core business.”
All three utilities reportedly will receive portal access and analytics for Honeywell’s EnergyAxis connected electricity meters, which will provide data on customer energy consumption to enable more accurate billing, and also help detect meter tampering and outages for faster power restoration.
“As a smaller utility, we have many of the same fundamental objectives as any large power provider, but the added obstacle of operating with often limited resources – especially when it comes to IT,” said Jeff Williamson, utility director for the City of St. John, Kansas. “Honeywell’s managed smart grid services help us more easily cover off on important network management tasks so we can focus on our ultimate objective of providing our customers with affordable and reliable power.”