Smart Meter (AMI) Deployment Advancing & Retail Choice

By Ananda Goswami

Over the past several months, several state regulators have approved the installation of smart meters, embracing the technology as a means of achieving clean energy and/or decarbonization goals.

On January 7, 2021  New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities approved an application from Public Service Electric & Gas to invest ~$700 million in the next four years to provide its 2.3 million electric customers with smart meters, under a territory-wide deployment to be completed by the end of 2024. (Docket EO18101115).

In November 2020, the Public Service Commission of New York approved an AMI deployment plan at Niagara Mohawk (National Grid or NiMo) with an expected 1,690,000 electric AMI meter and 640,000 gas module installations between April 2023 and March 2027 (Case 17-E-0238).

Niagara Mohawk's AMI deployment includes smart meters with "distributed intelligence" capabilities, meaning that these smart meters contain an on-board computer that allows for significantly enhanced information gathering at much shorter time intervals, and the capability to download and execute software applications written by third parties or utilities. This provides the basis for various "apps" that third parties, or utilities, may design for the customer based on such AMI data. One example would be highly discrete load disaggregation information (e.g. usage by appliance).

In Ohio, a non-unanimous settlement pending before the Public Utilities Commission would approve a smart grid plan at Dayton Power & Light (DP&L), including the deployment of advanced meters, an upgraded customer information system, and other grid modernization activities (Case 18-1875-EL-GRD).

Like Niagara Mohawk, DP&L’s smart meters will have Distributed Intelligence capabilities, and the settlement also includes terms concerning the provision of AMI data to retail electric suppliers, and the use of such data in wholesale market settlements.

The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority is once again reviewing the full deployment of more advanced AMI at the state's investor-owned utilities. Currently, United Illuminating has ~ 80% AMI deployment (with technology dating back over a decade), while Connecticut Light & Power relies on a "bridge" metering technology that allows for more limited remote metering capability.

In July of 2020, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU), which had previously found territory-wide AMI deployment not to be cost effective, opened Phase II of a grid modernization proceeding, citing that the "primary focus" of the new proceeding is to examine whether to deploy advanced metering to basic service (default service) customers with electric vehicles (EVs), in addition to a discrete number of other customers. In other words, the focus is on providing certain customers who remain with the utility for their electricity supply with smart meters, rather than providing AMI to customers who have selected a competitive retail electric supplier (Docket 20-69).

For retailers, brokers, and other energy service providers the continued deployment of Smart Meters presents additional growth and product opportunities. Access to interval data allows retail energy suppliers to better customize products to their end users and adjust to the evolving needs of their customer.

Though AMI rollout continues, concerns around who has access to this data and how this data can be obtained continues. In the PSE&G AMI proceeding, for example, PSE&G determined that AMI usage data belongs to the customer, and thus the customer has the right to share this data with a licensed third party supplier. However, development of the portal to access this data was deferred, pending an ongoing data access proceeding (Docket EO20110716).

For brokers, the ability to access this data is exceeding beneficial as additional utilities allow brokers to request historical interval data via EDI (most recently Con Ed in New York) or data portals. Though more and more markets now have AMI usage data, getting access to this data remains a challenge in many markets, making it difficult for many retailers and brokers to realize for the full benefits of this data. As more states expand their Smart Meter initiatives, special attention to getting access to this data via EDI becomes exceedingly important.

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Ananda Goswami is the Chief Revenue Officer at EC Infosystems. Ananda leads activities related to EC Infosystems’ marketing and new business initiatives, alliances, public relations, corporate image, mergers and acquisitions and product development. With over 20 years of experience in the retail energy industry, Ananda provides thought leadership as a panelist and moderator at various industry forums. Ananda holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Computer Information Technology from Baruch College (CUNY). Ananda serves as Board Member of Energy Marketing Conference for Retailers.

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Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Commemorates EC Infosystems’ Recent Office Move

UNIONDALE, N.Y. – March 29, 2017 – EC Infosystems, a leader in Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Billing/Customer Information Solutions (CIS) for clients in the deregulated energy industry, conducted a public ribbon cutting ceremony yesterday to inaugurate the opening of its new 20,000 square foot office.

Nassau County Commissioner Edward Eisenstein, Richard Kessel, former Chairman and President of both LIPA and NYPA, Dr. Yacov Shamash, Vice President of Economic Development from Stony Brook, and Mohan Wanchoo, President and CEO of EC Infosystems and Jasmine Universe, were among the many industry leaders who presented speeches to over 150 people that gathered yesterday morning to attend the grand opening. Mohan Wanchoo cut the ceremonial ribbon to declare the premises open for business.