According to a recent announcement, Verizon has been chosen to update Washington State’s Peninsula Light Company (PenLight) power distribution system with its Grid Wide Utility Services Intelligent Energy platform. Electric meters equipped with Verizon cellular connectivity reportedly will replace end-of-life meters in the homes and businesses of more than 33,000 PenLight members. The meters can then be managed using Verizon’s Grid Wide platform.
Grid Wide is a managed, cloud-based, Internet of Things (IoT) platform-as-a-service solution developed by Verizon to help utilities modernize their systems. The solution is designed to allow utilities to remotely configure, monitor and manage end-points within their service areas, creating operational efficiencies and improving customer service across the board.
PenLight is a member-owned electric cooperative serving the communities of Gig Harbor and the Key Peninsula in Washington and now its members will benefit from improved meter reporting and billing accuracy, and better power outage management, including improved outage identification, confirmation and response time, the companies said in the joint release.
“Utilities want to offer customers the benefits of IoT technologies, but can face costly infrastructure upgrades to do so,” said Steve Szabo, head of Global IoT Products & Solutions group, Verizon. “Verizon’s Grid Wide Platform-as-a-Service is a highly scalable and robust environment that combines a rich, world-class IoT application suite with the nation’s largest, most reliable 4G LTE network. With near real-time data, Peninsula Light will gain the insights it needs to improve operational efficiency, control costs and offer an even higher level of service for its members.”
“Verizon’s Grid Wide solution offers us a reliable, secure, managed cellular-based platform via which to run our distribution network,” responded Jafar Taghavi, CEO, PenLight. “We’re building on our already strong relationship with Verizon, with Grid Wide. The solution perfectly addresses our appetite for more system data as it relates to voltage, power quality and incremental demand, and offers reliable inputs to our outage management system.
“Grid Wide is the continuation of a journey for us as PenLight develops more efficient energy delivery options,” Taghavi added. “Our Board of Directors has long supported our search for innovative ways to further improve the reliability and service we give to our members. Grid Wide allows our operations team to see issues earlier and respond faster while also helping keep costs low and service delivery as high as possible. Perhaps most importantly, Verizon’s solution gives us the ability to remain nimble within the rapidly changing dynamics of the electric utility industry.”
Edited by
Ken Briodagh
