The first wave of advanced metering technology promised improvements to resiliency and reliability, reduced truck rolls, better data for integrated resources and tools for consumer energy management. In many ways, it delivered these benefits in a way that helped utilities keep up with system demands.
But as we enter a period of increasing challenges to integrate clean energy, while also electrifying transportation and other high demand appliances, the need for more decision-making capabilities at the grid edge is becoming self-evident.
Now that many utilities have begun deploying next generation grid-edge management technology, the question on the minds of regulators and grid operators is how is it different? And secondly, what can it do to help the grid keep up with increasing demands?
In the case of Landis+Gyr’s Revelo advanced metering platform, the answer lies in rethinking what a smart meter should be. Revelo was designed to be a grid sensor. While it contains a standard metrology section for accurately measuring demand and voltage, Revelo also contains a current transformer dedicated to streaming high-resolution waveform data. This section of the meter is married to an edge intelligence card running a Linux operating system capable of hosting a variety of applications that can access, interpret, and respond to the signatures in the waveform data.
Put simply, a meter now should be viewed as an edge computing device that can both run highly accurate load disaggregation apps for consumers and use machine learning for anomaly detection, managing DER and EV charging loads, and making autonomous decisions in real time.
Over the next decade most utilities will be adding these features as they look to balance new demands on the distribution system. To learn more about the next generation of grid edge applications, stop by Landis+Gyr’s booth (#409) at the T&D World Conference and Exhibition.
Landis+Gyr | Booth 409
