© 2010 by Elster. All rights reserved.. Elster Confidential and Proprietary Overview Smart Grid and Smart Metering Southwest Renewable Energy Conference.

© 2010 by Elster. All rights reserved.. Elster Confidential and Proprietary

Overview Smart Grid and Smart Metering

Southwest Renewable Energy ConferenceSeptember 14, 2010Santa Fe, NM

05/05/10 Rev. 1.0

2 Elster Confidential and Proprietary.2

Industry in Transition

• Smart Grid – Paradigm shift, revolutionizing the way we use energy

• Driven by - technological, environmental, economic, political pressures

• The “Smart Grid” impacts– Consumer– Energy generation– Transmission & distribution– Regulatory & economic, policies

3 Elster Confidential and Proprietary.

Smart Grid Impact

• Flexibility for resilience & reliability– Decentralized, open & secure delivery,

information, and control infrastructure– Sensing, distributed intelligence and control

technologies throughout the transmission and distribution system

– Integration of key business systems that streamline control and decision making processes

• Knowledge to empower consumers– Awareness & understanding– Customer actions to reduce energy use and

peak load

3


Smart Grid Impact

• Economic & environmental sustainability– Proactive load shedding capability to direct

consumption during critical peak over-load situations

– Broad scale energy efficiency programs with predictable and measurable impacts on consumption

– Demand response technologies that create real time feedback loops between the consumer and utility

– Renewables and distributed generation resources


Ten years ago …

• dial-up, narrowband Internet connection• for many, AOL was the internet• CompuServe e-mail addresses that had nine digits• still backing up files on 3 1/2 inch floppy disks • no IPODs - Sony Walkman• cassette tapes in the car (CD players were also available)• analog cellphone that only handled voice calls (no texting)• video rental stores still rented VHS tapes (DVD were also

available)• computers didn't play movies, let alone download them• gaming required a playstation or nintendo (no on line

gaming)• film cameras (digital cameras were available)• Alta Vista was the search engine• Social networking meant talking to people at a cocktail

party


AMR vs. AMI

• Automated Meter Reading (AMR) – Replace manual monthly reads– Reduce labor costs

• Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) – More frequent data– Transfer knowledge– Take action Actionable information that is

useful but perishable


AMR is One Way with Dumb Endpoints


AMI is Two Way with Intelligent Endpoints

WAN


AMI Smart Grid

WAN


Smart Metering Technology:

• Communications – Available Choices– Full Two Way with Sufficient Data

Throughput• RF Tower • RF Mesh• Power Line Carrier (PLC)


RF Network Options


Level 1

2. Gatekeeper checks for reliability and registers Level 1 nodes

Gatekeeper

Gatekeeper is single phase or polyphase ALPHA meter with WAN & LAN boards

1. Gatekeeper meter looks for unregistered nodes

Auto-registrationAuto-registration

Network Elements can be either A3 ALPHA or REX2 meters

EnergyAxis Mesh Network


Gatekeeper

Level 1

1. Gatekeeper looks for unregistered nodes

2. Gatekeeper registers Level 1 nodes

3. Gatekeeper instructs Level 1 nodes to find Level 2 nodes, checks reliability, and sets up Level 2 nodes & repeaters

Level 2




Level 1

Gatekeeper

Level 2

1. Gatekeeper looks for unregistered nodes

2. Gatekeeper registers Level 1 nodes

3. Gatekeeper registers Level 2 nodes & repeaters

4. Gatekeeper registers Level 3 nodes & repeaters

Level 3Level 4

Level 16

5. Network continues to build to a max 16 hops

(15 repeater levels)




Level 16

Level 1

Gatekeeper

Level 2Level 3

Level 4

Also supports…

Gas Meters

Water Meters

In Home Display

Demand Response



Power Line Carrier

• Communication Frequency carrier over power line.

• Requires infrastructure in the substation

• Excellent distance - up to 50 miles


Smart Metering:Communications Technology Tradeoffs

Mesh Tower PLC

Point to Point Speed Fast Fast Slow

Bandwidth Broad Narrow Narrow

Scalability High Low High

Broadcast Speed Medium Fast Slow

WAN Choice Fixed Fixed

InterferenceTechnology Does

PreventTechnology Does Not

PreventNo Inter-

ference

LicenseUnlicensed Shared

BandwidthLicense Protects Right to

Exclusive Bandwidth NA

Risk of Frequency Re-allocation Very Low Low NA

ContentionLow (Distributed

Path) High (Bubble Up) Low

RedundancyEasy (Add

gatekeeper) Difficult (Add Towers) None

Self Healing High Low None

Data Throughput Reliability

High (Every Network Element is

Repeater)

Low to High (Varies with

# of Towers and Repeaters Deployed) High


Smart Metering Technology: The Market Chooses …

• Communications – Planned Deployments– RF Mesh – 70%*– RF Tower – 15%– Power Line Carrier (PLC) – 15%– Broadband Over Powerline (BPL) – < 1%

*Of 48 utilities (50M connected meters), 31 (35M connected meters) have selected an RF mesh technology solution.

Source: Energy Information Administration


How Smart is your Smart Meter?

Auditability is Key

06/21/10 Rev. 2.1


Back to Basics

Just what is a “smart meter” anyway?


What is a Smart Meter?

Wikipedia– A smart meter is an advanced meter

(usually an electrical meter) that identifies consumption in more detail than a conventional meter; and optionally, but generally, communicates that information via some network back to the local utility for monitoring and billing purposes (telemetering).



DOE– … smart meters… are able to measure,

store, send and receive digital information concerning electricity use, costs, prices and time-of-use between power companies and customers for purposes that include but are not necessarily limited to dynamic pricing, demand response, load management, billing, remote connect/disconnect, outage detection and management, and tamper detection.

DOE smart grid stimulus award application form, issued June 25, 2009



Generally accepted definition: • A smart meter is an intelligent device that

supports “two-way” communications back to the head end to enable utility Smart Grid applications


• 2-Channel kWh

– Delivered

– Received

– Sum

– Net

• 2-Channel Load Profile

– REX2: 15, 30 or 60 minute intervals

– A3: 5, 15, 30 or 60 minute intervals

• 4-Tier TOU

– With four day types and four seasons

REX2 Meter Data

• Demand

– TOU and Total

– 15, 30 or 60 min interval

• 1, 3 or 5 min. subintervals• Voltage: (1) Snapshot, (2)

Maximum and (3) Minimum• Power: (1) kVA or (2) kVAR• Momentary Outage Count• Sustained Outage Count• Sustained Outage Time

• Data for power reliability indices (SAIDI, SAIFI, CAIDI, MAIFI)


EnergyAxis Remote Disconnect • Fully integrated 200A disconnect switch• Same meter profile as non-disconnect• Designed for safety

– Switch will not close if load side voltage is detected

• Applications:– Improve Collections– Move-Ins / Move-Outs– Demand Limiting– Prepayment– Employee Safety

• Elster has the most disconnect meters in service


Three Main Components

• The core metrology– Converts voltage and current

measurements into basic energy viaa pulse output or an incrementing cumulative value

• The meter registers– The logic and functionality in

which the basic measurement is converted to billing data

• The communications– The method used to transmit

the information back to the utility head end

Core Metrology

Billing Register

Communications


The Core Metrology:Eyes & Ears of a Smart Meter

• Converts voltage and current measurements into basic energy via a pulse output or an incrementing cumulative value

X = kWHV I

Core Metrology


• The logic and functionality in which the basic energy measurement is converted to billing data

The Billing Register:Brains of a Smart Meter

Billing Register

12:00 12:1512:15 12:3012:30 12:4512:45 1:001:15 1:301:30 1:451:45 2:002:00 2:152:15 2:302:30 2:452:45 3:00

Interval Data

Core Metrology

TOU2.56 kW

Maximum Demand

kWh


12:00 12:1512:15 12:3012:30 12:4512:45 1:001:15 1:301:30 1:451:45 2:002:00 2:152:15 2:302:30 2:452:45 3:00

TOU

Interval Data

2.56 kWMaximum Demand

The Communications:Mouth of a Smart Meter

• The method/technology by which information is transmitted to the system head end

Meter Communications

Billing Register

Communication Network


Comm ModuleMeter

Smart Meter Solution “A”

Billing Registration performed in the meter

Core Metrology

CommunicationsBilling RegisterCommunicatio

n Network

Utility Head End


Smart Meter Solution “A”

• Communications are independent and interchangeable; transport, but do not create register data

• Metrology and billing register are 100% aligned in traditional meter

• Register output is directly traceable to meter• Data delivered to AMI Head End will exactly

match values on meter display• Meter typically maintains data history, facilitating

complaint resolution

Comm ModuleMeter

Core Metrology

Communications

Billing Register


Utility Head End


Comm ModuleMeter

Smart Meter Solution “B”

Billing Registration performed in the comm module

Core Metrology

Communications

Billing Register


Utility Head End


Smart Meter Solution “B”

• Typically uses a basic meter that may provide nothing more than a plain kWh value (i.e., the meter itself is not very “smart”)

• Register logic and functionality embedded in the communications module; core metrology output is used as input to billing data

• Sets up dependency on reliability and accuracy of link between communication module and meter; creates an opportunity for errors to be introduced even if core metrology is 100% accurate

• Time differentiated billing data may not be traceable to the metrology

Comm ModuleMeter

Core Metrology

Communications

Billing Register

Communication

Network

Utility Head End


Com ModuleMeter

Smart Meter Solution “C”

Billing Registration performed in the network

Core Metrology Communications

Billing Register


Utility Head End


Smart Meter Solution “C”

• Billing registration is performed somewhere “in the communication network”

• No auditability or traceability to the core metrology

• Communications reliability will have significant impact on accuracy of time differentiated data

Comm ModuleMeter

Core Metrology Communications

Billing Register


Utility Head End


Solution “A” is EnergyAxis Maximizes Auditability, Minimizes Risk

What you see is what you get

Comm ModuleMeter

Core Metrology

CommunicationsBilling RegisterCommunicatio

n Network

Utility Head End=


What’s Happening

• Litigation• Post deployment meter testing to

“validate accuracy”• Customer dissatisfaction• Increasing consumer doubt • Additional regulatory oversight


The Smart Meter Plays a Key Role

• Customer satisfaction• Positive relationship with consumer

advocacy groups• Responsibility to shareholders• Avoid unnecessary scrutiny/skepticism of

other aspects of smart grid deployment• SOX compliance


A Closer Look at One Factor: Sarbanes-Oxley 2002

• Unprecedented financial transparency and accountability– CEO / CFO must attest to accuracy of financial statements

and adequacy of internal controls behind financial statement data

– Failure carries fines up to $5M and/or imprisonment for up to 20 years

• Does metering fall under SOX?– The metering system is the daily logbook for revenue– CIS and/or MDM were considered adequate for monthly or

bi-monthly metering data– Future internal controls must support the data collection

process for possible 15-minute interval reads for millions of consumers

– “Significant and material financial impact” could result froma legitimate, collective dispute by consumers, or an aggregated territory-wide calculation error


Auditability and Traceability:EnergyAxis Solutions to Fundamental Issues

• Do the Time-Of-Use and register data sent to the head end match what is shown on the meter display?

• This facilitates complaint resolution.



• Does the meter data come from a single source? Or is it compiled and calculated from multiple sources?– AMI systems that use the communications

module to compute billing data, may not be able to trace that data directly back to the meter.

• The billing data is generated at the meter and stored at the meter. – Billing data output (consumption, demand,

time-of-use, interval data, etc.) is directly traceable to the meter.



• Can interval data be retrieved locally?– At the meter’s optical port?– With/without the communications?

• Does system not rely on the communications module for any calculations or register functionality?


Aren’t there Standards for this?

• Existing standards for electricity meters provide strong rules for evaluating accuracy of the core metrology– ANSI C12.1, C12.10, C12.18, C12.19, C12.20,

C12.22

• No existing standard guides or defines the process of accumulating data into time differentiated rates

• Established meter vendors understand the operational expectations (with or without a standard)

• Elster supports standards and applies them to EnergyAxis wherever applicable


Accuracy:EnergyAxis Solutions to Fundamental Issues

• Normal meter accuracy testing validates the core metrology only

• The addition of AMI communication modules can sometimes have an effect on electricity meters

• Questions: – Does the Meter/Register provide the same accuracy

with communications turned on/off?– How is the register function validated when performed

“outside” of the meter?

• EnergyAxis meter accuracy can be tested with or without AMI module communicating


Meter and Register Maintenance

• Multiple firmware sets exist in a Smart Meter

• Communications are commonly upgradeable

• Make sure that core metrology and billing register functionality are also remotely upgradeable

Core Metrology

Billing Register

Communications

One of the recent outputs of the NIST standards activities is NEMA SG-AMI 1, “Requirements for Smart Meter Upgradeability”


Maintenance: EnergyAxis Solutions to Fundamental Issues

• Are upgrades supported to:– The communications?

• Yes with EnergyAxis • This capability is common

– The core metrology? • Yes with EnergyAxis

– The register? • Yes with EnergyAxis


Smart Meter vs. Smart System

• Know the differences in smart meter implementations and evaluate the risks

• Not just “Do I have a Smart Meter?”But… “Do I have a Smart System?”– Communications technology alone does not

constitute a smart system– A truly smart system has intelligence

distributed throughout the infrastructure


Future Trends to Watch

• Market pressures will drive vendors to offer tightly integrated solutions– Metrology, registers, and communications

may be physically located on the same circuit board

– All three are still logically separate and billing register scenarios “A”, “B”, and “C” still apply


Future Trends to Watch

• Support for new and emerging communication solutions– The Smart Grid is not a single

communications technology– Smart Grid solutions will have multiple

technologies deployed as appropriate for the needs of the utility application

– Applies to both Residential and C&I applications

– Future applications may justify direct WAN communications to a higher percentage of endpoints – even residential


Summary

Ask questions – dig into the details

Verify• Compliance to SOX within your meter-to-cash

process• Auditability and traceability of billing data• Ability to test (with and w/o communications)• Upgradeability of all major smart meter

components• Adaptability to new and emerging technologies


Thank You!

www.EnergyAxis.com

© 2010 by Elster. All rights reserved.. Elster Confidential and Proprietary Overview Smart Grid and Smart Metering Southwest Renewable Energy Conference.

Documents

elster confidential

smart grid impactflexibility

proprietaryoverview

smart metering technology

peak load

control technologies

energy use

control infrastructuresensing