Business Specialties Technology
July 7, 2008
By: Judy Feldman, Contributing Correspondent
A California company, Trilliant Inc., has just announced that it has hit a major milestone for so-called "Smart Grid" initiatives. It reported in early May that it had delivered more than 750,000 intelligent devices that support advanced metering, demand response and other Smart Grid applications.
The "Smart" power grid effort was born from the shocking impact of of power outages, which cost the U.S. $80 billion every year. Just one, the Cleveland blackouts that occurred in August 2003, cost $4.5 billion to $12 billion in lost economic activity. Managing energy supply and demand, therefore, focuses on cutting down the odds of such crippling regional blackouts. In addition, in today’s competitive market, with its soaring energy costs, managing power needs also becomes more important.
Trilliant has been a leading innovator in the implementation of advanced metering infrastructure, demand response, and grid management solutions. Bill Vogel, CEO at Trilliant, explained to CPN, “There are a lot of factors that come into play as to why the Smart Grid is getting so much attention, but much of the interest boils down to consumer concerns about carbon emissions. Government regulation and electrical utility efforts are big parts of the equation, but consumers are pushing the Smart Grid agenda the hardest. Consumers want a say in improving energy usage.”
The Smart Grid requires that best principals and practices be used to save money and to face energy challenges from the utility to the consumer. Noted Vogel, “The Smart Grid is an extremely complicated undertaking, requiring a very complex ecosystem of companies to be involved in its development. Because of this complexity, it’s practically impossible to say that we compete with any one company. It’s going to take dozens of companies all working together to make the Smart Grid a reality.”
An example of what Trilliant can provide is shown by its involvement with E.ON U.S. subsidiary of Louisville Gas & Electric with its 400,000 customers in the Louisville and surrounding area. LG&E and Trilliant now are creating a responsive pricing program with time-of-use pricing that has a real-time, critical-peak pricing component. Also they are creating a Demand Side Management (DSM) tool for customers who prefer responsive pricing. The variable rate structure will use smart meters, information displays and DSM equipment such as programmable thermostats and load control switches.
Trilliant now has more than 100 utility customers including Duke Energy, E.ON US (Louisville Gas & Electric), Hydro One, Hydro Quebec, Jamaica Public Service Company Limited, Milton Hydro, Northeast Utilities, OneOK, PowerStream, Public Service Electric & Gas, San Diego Gas & Electric, Toronto Hydro Electric System Ltd., and Union Gas.
By: Judy Feldman, Contributing Correspondent
A California company, Trilliant Inc., has just announced that it has hit a major milestone for so-called "Smart Grid" initiatives. It reported in early May that it had delivered more than 750,000 intelligent devices that support advanced metering, demand response and other Smart Grid applications.
The "Smart" power grid effort was born from the shocking impact of of power outages, which cost the U.S. $80 billion every year. Just one, the Cleveland blackouts that occurred in August 2003, cost $4.5 billion to $12 billion in lost economic activity. Managing energy supply and demand, therefore, focuses on cutting down the odds of such crippling regional blackouts. In addition, in today’s competitive market, with its soaring energy costs, managing power needs also becomes more important.
Trilliant has been a leading innovator in the implementation of advanced metering infrastructure, demand response, and grid management solutions. Bill Vogel, CEO at Trilliant, explained to CPN, “There are a lot of factors that come into play as to why the Smart Grid is getting so much attention, but much of the interest boils down to consumer concerns about carbon emissions. Government regulation and electrical utility efforts are big parts of the equation, but consumers are pushing the Smart Grid agenda the hardest. Consumers want a say in improving energy usage.”
The Smart Grid requires that best principals and practices be used to save money and to face energy challenges from the utility to the consumer. Noted Vogel, “The Smart Grid is an extremely complicated undertaking, requiring a very complex ecosystem of companies to be involved in its development. Because of this complexity, it’s practically impossible to say that we compete with any one company. It’s going to take dozens of companies all working together to make the Smart Grid a reality.”
An example of what Trilliant can provide is shown by its involvement with E.ON U.S. subsidiary of Louisville Gas & Electric with its 400,000 customers in the Louisville and surrounding area. LG&E and Trilliant now are creating a responsive pricing program with time-of-use pricing that has a real-time, critical-peak pricing component. Also they are creating a Demand Side Management (DSM) tool for customers who prefer responsive pricing. The variable rate structure will use smart meters, information displays and DSM equipment such as programmable thermostats and load control switches.
Trilliant now has more than 100 utility customers including Duke Energy, E.ON US (Louisville Gas & Electric), Hydro One, Hydro Quebec, Jamaica Public Service Company Limited, Milton Hydro, Northeast Utilities, OneOK, PowerStream, Public Service Electric & Gas, San Diego Gas & Electric, Toronto Hydro Electric System Ltd., and Union Gas.
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