IBM has extensive experience developing smart grids and will bring that know-how to the AEP initiative. IBM will be providing support through the new AEP program including design of business processes, program management, system interfaces, and system planning. AEP will also be able to tap into IBM’s immense resources, including research, IT infrastructure, and software; a collaboration that will allow AEP to make use of IBM’s experience in developing smart grids all over the world.
The gridSMART project is truly revolutionary in that it will introduce smart technology from the point of power generation to where it is consumed by customers. Consumers can expect fewer power outages, enhanced service and reliability, as well as the ability to better manage and monitor energy usage through the use of a smart meter installed in the home. By maintaining an open platform using accepted networking standards, AEP will ensure that other smart grid enhancements can be implemented in the future as they become available.
AEP’s electrical transmission system is the largest in the United States with a distribution system that spans 11 states and serves more than 5 million customers. IBM is joining a development team that is currently developing advanced metering technology, energy delivery and enhanced customer service across the entire AEP system.
“IBM’s commitment to the development of a smarter electricity grid aligns with the activities we already have underway,” said AEP president, chairman and CEO Michael G. Morris. “Combining our own expertise on utility operations with IBM’s expertise and experience in systems integration will bring the implementation of systems that best meet our customers’ needs.”
At first, the gridSMART project will begin by focusing on four projects:
* A pilot program in South Bend, Indiana that has already begun and is providing a test run for power grid management, smart meters, and advanced energy efficiency technology.
* A validation and refinement stage where city-wide demonstrations of involving around 100,000 customers each will allow AEP to tweak the gridSMART project.
* Development of an Application Portfolio Roadmap that will provide a strategy for how technology will transform AEP’s electrical distribution over the next five years.
* Introduction of several innovative energy conservation and customer service initiatives including online management of energy service.
“AEP’s wide-ranging initiative is one of the world’s best examples of how an Intelligent Utility Network can fundamentally transform the way power is distributed and used,” said Guido Bartels, general manager for IBM’s Global Energy & Utilities Industries. “We also see it as a further demonstration of IBM’s continued efforts to bring innovative solutions to the global challenges in energy and the environment.”
AEP will introduce other enhancements to gridSMART in the future including smart meters for every AEP customer by the year 2015, large-scale distributed energy technology including battery storage of renewable energy, fuel cells, and support for emerging plug-in hybrid vehicles.
IBM
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http://www.ibm.com
American Electric Power
1 Riverside Plaza
Columbus, Ohio, USA 43215-2372
http://www.aep.com
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