Silver Spring Networks has finalized agreements with Commonwealth Edison, a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corp., to deploy its Smart Energy Platform to network nearly 4 million homes and businesses and distribution automation devices under the recently enacted Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act (EIMA), a key initiative for the state of Illinois.
ComEd’s 10-year, $2.6 billion Infrastructure Investment Plan invests $1.3 billion to strengthen the electric system and another $1.3 billion to add new smart grid technology. Overall the modernization effort will create more than 2,000 full time equivalent jobs at peak in construction, engineering, IT, dispatching, equipment distribution and energy efficiency. Once the agreement is reviewed by the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), ComEd will begin installing smart meters.
Silver Spring Networks will open a new office in Chicago and establish a network operations center that will include dozens of new jobs in sales, marketing, network operations, project management and field engineering to support the build-out.
Previously Silver Spring and ComEd partnered on an Advanced Metering Infrastructure pilot program that demonstrated significant operational benefits for full-scale deployment including improved outage management. The pilot also demonstrated that providing customers with new pricing and information options using advanced technology can produce additional customer savings.
The smart grid program will connect nearly 4 million homes and businesses over a 10-year period using Silver Spring’s unified networking platform running multiple applications, including advanced metering and distribution automation. Silver Spring’s secure and open networking platform demonstrates the benefits of the smart grid and uniquely delivers against the requirements of the groundbreaking Energy Information Modernization Act.
