OG&E announced on October 29 that it had selected GE Energy and Silver Spring Networks to support key functionality of the utility’s Positive Energy Smart Grid program.  A full deployment is expected to begin in Norman, Oklahoma some time in 2010.

The program represents OG&E’s next step towards using smart grid technology in order to create better informed energy consumers.  OG&E will benefit as well with a highly dependable delivery system and reasonable rates that customers can live with.

GE Energy will provide 42,000 smart meters for the city of Norman.  The devices are capable of precisely measuring energy usage in a home or business and transmitting that data to back office systems at OG&E.  Silver Spring Networks’ Smart Energy Network will transmit the usage information bi-directionally between OG&E and its customers.

OG&E began working with GE Energy and Silver Spring Networks in the summer of 2008 in a pilot project involving 6,600 customers in Oklahoma City.  The success of that effort has encouraged the utility to expand its use of smart grid technology to Norman.

"Smart grid technology is important for our customers, for our employees and for our shareholders," said Ken Grant, managing director of OG&E's smart grid program.  "After more than a century of serving our customers, it is important that we partner with companies who have successful track records with this new technology."

A new pilot project in Norman will enlist between 2,000 and 3,000 customers who will receive pricing information in near-real time.  Prices will vary based upon the amount of energy consumed and the time of day.  The study will determine how the participants alter their consumption patterns based upon prices and how many are able to lower their electric bills.

Once the entire smart grid infrastructure is in place, OG&E will be able to connect and disconnect power remotely.  The utility will also be instantaneously notified when a power outage has occurred.  No longer will OG&E have to rely on its customers to report these incidents.

Grant said that OG&E will select a contractor to install the smart meters and other partners who will work with the utility to support the participants in the new study.

"We want to make sure that this technology works well before we integrate it completely into our normal operations and employee processes," said Grant.  "However, we're confident smart grid technology is the future for our industry.  We're looking ahead with many of our employees involved in designing the processes for use in Norman and later across our service territory for all of our customers." 

On October 27 OG&E was notified that its application for $130 million in smart grid stimulus funding had been approved.  The utility will seek approval from state regulators to recover costs from its customers of the remaining costs of the nearly $300 million that will be spent on deploying smart grid technology across its entire service territory within the next three to five years.

OG&E
P.O. Box 321
Oklahoma City, OK 73101-0321
http://www.oge.com

GE Energy
4200 Wildwood Pkwy.
Atlanta, GA 30339
http://www.gepower.com

Silver Spring Networks
575 Broadway Street
Redwood City, CA 94063
http://www.silverspringnet.com

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