Skeptical N.Y. Utilities Study BPL for Smart Grid Applications
BPL may not see all smooth sailing even when it comes to duty in automated meter reading and remote control of home appliances, judging from filings with the N.Y. PSC. The BPL industry is banking on heightened regulatory focus in Congress and state emphasis on energy conservation and better grid management to get “risk-averse” utilities to adopt the technology to improve grid efficiencies and maintenance. In response to the N.Y. PSC’s advanced meter reading order, major power utilities seemed reluctant in filings to commit to BPL as the sole answer, and one rejected BPL because it’s still evolving.
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Consolidated Edison (ConEd) said it and many utilities are looking at BPL’s suitability not only for high-speed Internet but also for electrical distribution asset monitoring, substation video surveillance, automated meter reading and the like. But BPL does have a “high level of uncertainty both in technical and total functionality” in ConEd’s distribution grid, it added. ConEd “eliminated” BPL from its “current business case” after deciding the technology is still developing and the “present costs of this communication infrastructure and the greater costs of BPL- related meters make this technology significantly more costly” than other automated meter methods.
But ConEd will continue to “reevaluate” BPL, because of advantages such as: (1) Its use of the existing electrical network would avoid construction of a communications overlay. (2) Needed communications data-collection points often already are on ConEd property. (3) BPL’s large bandwidth would allow use of the infrastructure for outage management and monitoring distribution networks, along with automated meter reading.
Niagara Mohawk Power’s owner, National Grid, called BPL a “technology that may warrant consideration” for utility communications. But it’s still emerging, National Grid said: “The equipment needed for full-scale deployment such as repeaters, primary to secondary coupling are still in the early stages of development and production.” National Grid recently deployed commercial BPL in part of its service territory, it said. It will follow the “landlord” model, with the BPL operator, not the utility, responsible for deploying and operating the system, it said.
National Grid would “seriously contemplate” using BPL for metering communications only after a “thorough business case justification” and demonstrated public interest, it said. And analog spectrum set for auction after the 2009 DTV conversion likely will see use for broadband Internet access, providing another option for advanced meter communications, it said.
N.Y. State Electric & Gas Corp. (NYSEG) and Rochester Gas & Electric Corp. said full BPL deployment isn’t a “viable communication solution” for their full service territories. But “utility-grade” BPL, which doesn’t support streaming video, VoIP and some other services, would be useful and efficient in areas with fiber networks and high meter density, they said in a joint filing. BPL’s advantage over wireless technologies is that it allows real-time 2-way communications between meters and the distribution system, it said. It also offers sufficient bandwidth and low latency to allow communications to equipment and appliances for real- time appliance control from a central location. - Dinesh Kumar