GE to Offer WiMax Smart Meter Solution Through CenterPoint Energy

By Jeff St. John

General Electric (GE) thinks 100 kilobits per second might be fine for reading electric meters. But 1 to 2 megabits per second is what's needed to make the split-second automation of the electricity distribution grid a reality.

That's what GE expects its new WiMax-based wireless communication system will be able to achieve for utility CenterPoint Energy (CNP).

In a contract announced Monday, GE will install a network of its WiMax-based MDS Mercury 3650 radios to link the utility's "backhaul" communications systems to collection points. Those collection points will aggregate data from millions of so-called "smart meters" that CenterPoint is installing for its 2.4 million customers in the Houston area.

Whether or not this marks a new trend in using WiMax for smart meter deployments – something that Intel (INTC) and GE-backed startup Grid Net wants to see happen – remains to be seen (see this Green Light post).

Like almost all the other "smart meter" deployments in the country so far, CenterPoint's smart meters themselves – built by meter manufacturer Itron – have radios with lower bandwidth to connect with each other in a mesh and transmit data to and from collection points.

In general, utilities have opted for lower-bandwidth, lower-cost wireless technologies for this "neighborhood area network" communications, since sending energy usage information and simple instructions to and from meters don't require high-bandwidth systems (see Smart Grid: A Matter of Standards).

But when it comes to distribution automation – using high-speed digital communications to control equipment that keeps the grid from breaking down – it's likely that utilities will need a lot more bandwidth, said Larry Sollecito, president and CEO of GE Digital Energy.

That's because, "If you're talking about doing distribution automation, you're talking about very fast response times, and you cannot miss a read on a communication," he said. Without that speed and reliability, "you'll damage a transformer, you‘ll break a generator, and you may even have a safety concern."

While GE is among the top smart meter makers in the country, this is the first smart meter deployment that includes its WiMax-based communications technology, Sollecito said.

And GE's system will be self-contained, rather than using WiMax networks being deployed by Sprint (S) and Clearwire (CLWR) around the country.

"CenterPoint is actually the first [U.S. utility] that's put a stake in the ground around WiMax," said Rick Nicholson, vice president of research for IDC company Energy Insights.

Intel, Google (GOOG), Comcast (CMCSA), Time Warner Cable (TWC) and others last year invested about $3.2 billion in a Sprint-Clearwire partnership aimed at building a nationwide WiMax network.

But that Sprint-Clearwire partnership has had its struggles, and is a second go-around for the two companies, which first announced a partnership in 2007 only to terminate it later that year.

Utilities – which are already known for being reluctant to use public communications networks (see Your Electrical Meter Becomes a Cellphone) – may be reluctant to try out WiMax for smart grid communications until the Sprint-Clearwire efforts play out, Nicholson said.

Still, backers of WiMax for smart grid may see this deployment as a way to test the proposition that the wireless technology is perfectly suited for a broad range of tasks.

"Utility customers are actively interested in the WiMax solution," said Judith McGarry, spokeswoman for San Francisco-based Grid Net, which has developed technology for installing WiMax Internet routers in smart meters.

The company has licensed tat technology to GE, which is now testing out the WiMax smart meters with SP AusNet and Energy Australia, two utilities in Australia, McGarry said.

GE is also talking with U.S. utilities American Electric Power (AEP) and Consumers Energy about testing WiMax smart meters, and could announce a commercial deployment using the Grid Net technology in the next few months, she said.

Both the Australian utilities are using public WiMax networks, McGarry noted. Australia's WiMax coverage is far greater than in the United States.

But utilities can always build their own communications networks. Nicholson said he wouldn't be surprised if GE continues to seek to build utility-owned WiMax networks like the one it's doing for CenterPoint as a way to support Grid Net-enabled smart meters in the long term.

"WiMax is one of many options," he said. "It's hard to predict of there's going to be a winner – or, more likely, there will be multiple options out there."

Comments

[meb289:]

This GE announcement is more hype than substance. Building a private WIMAX network to support the two way communications and control requirements for distributed power management solution is like killing a gnat with a sledge hammer. Centerpoint operates in the electricity delivery business; it owns transmission delivery equipment and manages electricity distribution between generators and electricity retailers. Its rates are set by the Texas PUC based on conventional utility cost recovery standards so if the PUC wants to invest in a gold plated wireless system, it can pass the costs through to the end customer . Centerpoint's principal benefit from using two way distributed electricity management systems is improving the efficency of its workforce and better utilizing its field assets. These types of systems can provide remote intelligence/diagnostics about end customer problems, limiting unecessary truck rolls and improving customer service. There is plenty of available capacity for these types of initiatives on the incumbent wireless service provider data networks to run proof of concept trials for Centerpoint .

The companies that should really care about these real-time distributed power managment systems are the Texas electricty retailers who could use the two way power management systems to develop innovative "green" pricing programs. If electricity retailers offered consumers new service programs that would reduce their monthly bills in return for allowing the electricity retailer to turn off/down electricity draining devices during peak demand periods, the benefits from avoiding peak power plant generated electicity are significant, including lower fuel consumption, lower CO2 emmissions and lower capital costs from improved utilization of existing electricity generation assets.

If GE really wanted to market a two way distributed power management solutions soon , it could use "off the shelf" 2G or 3G wireless device components, put a Linux stack together to run the applications neccessary to create a power management gateway ("smart meter") and collect all the information needed to manage the system. It would be hard to spend $200 per home. GE and Itron are used to getting $500 per device for their "so called" advanced automated meters. Are they really interested in producing a inexpensive device that completely meets the market's needs or do they want to delay those products with marketing FUD?

I argue the later; this announcement is simply green PR. GE and Itron are defining the problem in way that allows them to create expensive, proprietary software, built on excessively costly hardware, and pass the costs through the regulatory system. By adding WIMAX radios to the devices, the system component costs increase significantly because there is so little WIMAX unit volume that chip manufacturers cannot build inexpensive modules.

There is a significant opportunity to improve the efficiency of electricity distribution using wireless two way distributed electricity management solutions. Unfortunately, the incumbent utilities and electrical equipment manufacturers move at glacial speeds because regulators and consumers do not understand what is possible. This area is a perfect example underinvestment in infrastructure required to lessen dependence on fossil fuels. Hopefully Obama's energy policy makers will speed the adoption process, by identifying truly innovative companies that have built the necessary solutions

Mar 31 12:22 AM

[Fred W:]

Thank you for that analysis. Disappointing news, but very enlightening.


On Mar 31 12:22 AM meb289 wrote:

> This GE announcement is more hype than substance. Building a private
> WIMAX network to support the two way communications and control requirements
> for distributed power management solution is like killing a gnat
> with a sledge hammer. Centerpoint operates in the electricity delivery
> business; it owns transmission delivery equipment and manages electricity
> distribution between generators and electricity retailers. Its rates
> are set by the Texas PUC based on conventional utility cost recovery
> standards so if the PUC wants to invest in a gold plated wireless
> system, it can pass the costs through to the end customer . Centerpoint's
> principal benefit from using two way distributed electricity management
> systems is improving the efficency of its workforce and better utilizing
> its field assets. These types of systems can provide remote intelligence/diagnostics
> about end customer problems, limiting unecessary truck rolls and
> improving customer service. There is plenty of available capacity
> for these types of initiatives on the incumbent wireless service
> provider data networks to run proof of concept trials for Centerpoint
> .
>
> The companies that should really care about these real-time distributed
> power managment systems are the Texas electricty retailers who could
> use the two way power management systems to develop innovative "green"
> pricing programs. If electricity retailers offered consumers new
> service programs that would reduce their monthly bills in return
> for allowing the electricity retailer to turn off/down electricity
> draining devices during peak demand periods, the benefits from avoiding
> peak power plant generated electicity are significant, including
> lower fuel consumption, lower CO2 emmissions and lower capital costs
> from improved utilization of existing electricity generation assets.
>
>
> If GE really wanted to market a two way distributed power management
> solutions soon , it could use "off the shelf" 2G or 3G wireless device
> components, put a Linux stack together to run the applications neccessary
> to create a power management gateway ("smart meter") and collect
> all the information needed to manage the system. It would be hard
> to spend $200 per home. GE and Itron are used to getting $500 per
> device for their "so called" advanced automated meters. Are they
> really interested in producing a inexpensive device that completely
> meets the market's needs or do they want to delay those products
> with marketing FUD?
>
> I argue the later; this announcement is simply green PR. GE and
> Itron are defining the problem in way that allows them to create
> expensive, proprietary software, built on excessively costly hardware,
> and pass the costs through the regulatory system. By adding WIMAX
> radios to the devices, the system component costs increase significantly
> because there is so little WIMAX unit volume that chip manufacturers
> cannot build inexpensive modules.
>
> There is a significant opportunity to improve the efficiency of electricity
> distribution using wireless two way distributed electricity management
> solutions. Unfortunately, the incumbent utilities and electrical
> equipment manufacturers move at glacial speeds because regulators
> and consumers do not understand what is possible. This area is a
> perfect example underinvestment in infrastructure required to lessen
> dependence on fossil fuels. Hopefully Obama's energy policy makers
> will speed the adoption process, by identifying truly innovative
> companies that have built the necessary solutions
>

Mar 31 10:06 AM