The Tennessee Valley Authority Announces SmartSynch Solution

Wednesday, 03 February 2010 16:23

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has selected SmartSynch to provide smart meter solutions for the Generation Partners program. The initiative is being offered by 156 participating local power companies that distribute TVA power. TVA is the Unites States’ largest public energy utility, serving approximately 9 million consumers in seven southeastern states.

Generation Partners, a distributed renewable generation program, offers residential and commercial end-use customers incentives to purchase and install solar photovoltaic (PV), wind, biomass, and small hydro-electric systems. TVA purchases 100 percent of the renewable green energy produced by paying the retail rate, any fuel cost adjustment (FCA), plus 12 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for solar. All other eligible renewable technologies earn 3 cents per kWh.

SmartSynch’s turn-key Managed Services™ solution manages the reading, uploading, storage and delivery of generation data for TVA and the local power companies. By using public wireless networks as the communications backbone, SmartSynch’s solution streamlines the deployment process for local power distributors.

Stephen Johnston, SmartSynch’s chief executive officer, calls TVA’s Generation Partners program a win-win for both local power companies and consumers. “We are pleased that our smart metering solution will play a supporting role,” he said. “This is yet another testament to the value, reliability and flexibility of smart grid solutions utilizing public wireless networks. It would otherwise be impossible to strategically deploy this depth of remote communication and control functionality on a location-by-location basis.”

Since 2000, SmartSynch has pioneered clean-tech innovations and smart grid solutions utilizing public wireless networks for the utility industry. The company’s two-way delivery of real-time energy usage data over public wireless networks has been used by more than 100 major North American utilities. IP-based public wireless networks enable utilities to strategically and rapidly deploy more secure and scalable smart grid solutions with minimal capital expenditures.