Landis+Gyr and Oncor Reach Milestone in Smart Texas Advanced Meter System Deployment
DALLAS, June 23, 2009 — Energy Future Holdings issued the following news release:
NEW YORK and DALLAS, USA – Landis+Gyr, the global leader in next generation energy management solutions, and Oncor, the owner and operator of the largest distribution and transmission system in Texas, today announced a milestone in its advanced meter system rollout with the deployment of nearly 250,000 smart meters. By year-end, Oncor anticipates nearly 700,000 advanced meters and their communications systems will be in place.
Together, the companies have installed close to a quarter million advanced service connect meters, related networking infrastructure equipment and supporting software, as part of Oncor’s Smart TexasSM initiative. In connection with the large-scale GridstreamTM solution deployment in the Dallas metro area, Oncor is currently collecting and transmitting electricity usage data in 15-minute intervals for each of its deployed advanced meters, making Oncor’s program one of the largest, and most quickly installed in the US. By 2012, Oncor anticipates they will have replaced every residential and small commercial meter in its system, 3.4 million, with an advanced meter system.
“Oncor is proud of its leadership role in smart grid development. Smart Texas, Oncor’s smart grid initiative, is good for consumers, the Texas economy and the environment," said Jim Greer, Oncor Senior Vice President of Asset Management and Engineering. "Our advanced meter system deployment is a key component of our plan to transform the electric grid in Texas. We are gathering information from the advanced meters right on schedule as we roll out this next generation smart meter solution that will help Texans better manage their energy use."
The effort is part of a major four-year, end-to-end advanced metering deployment announced last May. Oncor will deploy Landis+Gyr’s GridstreamTM RF Mesh platform to 3.4 million points of delivery, empowering 7 million Texas consumers to independently manage their energy consumption, cut their energy bills and protect the environment.
“National demand for electricity is growing three times faster than power resources are being added, making energy conservation more critical than ever,” said Richard Mora, CEO of Landis+Gyr North America. “With our Gridstream offering, Oncor offers Texas consumers a practical way to manage their energy use and cut their electricity bills in this challenging economic environment.”
Oncor’s advanced meter system will support personal energy management applications such as in home displays and smart thermostats. The flexibility and interoperability supported by the system through application of industry standards, web services application programming interfaces and built-in security features, empowers Oncor to meet the advanced metering objectives outlined by the Public Utility Commission of Texas in a robust and secure manner.
Smart meters form the heart of the Smart Texas initiative, a comprehensive smart grid strategy designed to bring benefits to consumers through new technologies. Advanced meter systems are expected to revolutionize energy management and reliability by providing a two-way flow of data between meters and utilities. With this two-way data flow, Oncor will be able to offer retail electric providers in Texas an opportunity to offer customers a broad array of new pricing, demand response, and energy automation options that enhance the efficiency and reliability of the electric grid. Customers will benefit from more information, expanded choices, simpler and smarter management of their energy use, as well as the potential to reduce the environmental impact of their energy use.