Utilidata, National Grid create ‘smart grid’ partnership

SCOTT DEPASQUALE, CEO of Utilidata, said, “This is a smart grid technology that extracts real-time information from the electric grid to provide more reliable power, less expensive power, and a cleaner, more efficient electric grid.”  / PBN FILE PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY
SCOTT DEPASQUALE, CEO of Utilidata, said, “This is a smart grid technology that extracts real-time information from the electric grid to provide more reliable power, less expensive power, and a cleaner, more efficient electric grid.” / PBN FILE PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

PROVIDENCE – Utilidata Inc. and National Grid PLC have created a “smart grid” partnership intended to provide energy efficiency, system reliability and grid security benefits to Rhode Island electric customers.

“As a Providence-based technology company, we’re incredibly excited to deliver the benefits of Volt/VAR optimization in our home state” Scott DePasquale, Utilidata’s CEO, said in a statement. “This is a smart grid technology that extracts real-time information from the electric grid to provide more reliable power, less expensive power, and a cleaner, more efficient electric grid.”

Utilidata provided the intelligence behind National Grid’s pilot project, initiated in 2014. Utilidata initially deployed AdaptiVolt on seven National Grid circuits in Rhode Island to test the system’s effectiveness in delivering efficient voltage control. Now, National Grid said it will work with the R.I. Division of Public Utilities and Carriers to deploy Utilidata’s Volt/VAR Optimization technology – called AdaptiVolt – across its electric system, according to a news release from Utilidata.

AdaptiVolt uses real-time information from the distribution grid to optimize the delivery of electric power. By optimizing voltage, the technology helps to reduce electricity losses and save energy as electricity travels from generating plants, through the transmission network, into substations, and to homes and businesses. Unlike traditional energy efficiency measures, this enables the utility to save energy without customer action and those savings are passed on to customers.
“While many of our customers may never know about the Volt/VAR technology we’re installing on the electric grid, they will see the impact of it at the end of the day in the form of energy savings,” Timothy F. Horan, president and chief operating officer of National Grid Rhode Island, said in a statement.
The value of the contract was not immediately available.

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Carol Grant, commissioner of the state Office of Energy Resources, said Rhode Island “is consistently ranked among the most energy efficient states in the country, and this is another excellent example of the kind of innovation that’s needed to make us a national leader in energy efficiency and grid modernization.”

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