Greentech Lead America: Itron announced that Burlington
Electric Department (BED) of Burlington, Vt., has selected Itron’s smart grid
solution to efficiently and reliably manage its electric grid.
BED is serving approximately 16,000 residential customers
and more than 3,600 commercial customers.
BED said its smart grid project will include 20,000 Itron
smart meters, network communication infrastructure and professional services.
BED of Burlington is expected to leverage an American
Recovery and Reinvestment (ARRA) Smart Grid Investment Grant received through
Vermont Transco to fund the project, which is scheduled to be complete in early
2013.
Itron said its smart grid solution will assist BED to
streamline its meter data collection and billing operations and provide more
granular system load data, giving BED the ability to enhance energy forecasting
and optimize its distribution system.
BED will have the ability to support future rate
structure regulations and to leverage the solution’s outage reporting to
streamline restoration efforts.
BED will also have the ability to perform on-demand reads
as well as remote disconnects and reconnects with the solution. With a highly
transient student population in Burlington that results in an average turnover
of 6,000 residential accounts between May and August, this capability will be
especially beneficial to BED, providing increased operational efficiency and
improved customer service.
“Burlington Electric Department sought technology to
improve system planning and reliability, improve customer service, and reduce
costs,” said Ken Nolan, manager of power resources at BED.
“Delivering safe, reliable energy is the main mission of
the smart grid, and utilities like Burlington Electric Department with grid
modernization projects lead the way for other North American cities and towns,”
said Mark deVere-White, senior vice president of Itron Energy Group in North
America and Latin America.
Itron is a provider of energy and water resource
management solutions for nearly 8,000 utilities around the world.