Smart Grid Today Podcast

John Marcolini is senior VP of the network solutions business unit at Itron and his division was faced with the interesting challenge of deploying the network for the smart meter rollout of Con Edison in the five boroughs of New York City, a city of some 60,000 buildings plus all the subway stations – and he shared with us his insights about the project.

Sonnen US VP Adam Gentner is in charge of the premium products and projects business unit that specializes in virtual power plants (VPPs) using the firm’s home- and business-based battery systems and its own proprietary software. Claudia Kolbinger is VP in charge of the consumer products business which is focused on business development with large partners. The firm has deployed a large VPP in Germany and has several others elsewhere and is building on its existing success to bring the prosumer, grid-balancing, wholesale market, and carbon reduction benefits of VPPs to homes and businesses everywhere.

Hitachi Energy Senior Vice President of Enterprise Software Solutions Bryan Freehoff spoke with us about his firm's Asset Performance Management software or APM and the value it brings electric utilities in multiple ways including critical safety awareness during fire season. Please note that since we spoke to Bryan on this call, his company changed its name from Hitachi ABB Power Grids to Hitachi Energy.

Allan shared with us details about how SEPA conceived of and created its first-ever utility transformation challenge, an in-depth series of surveys that culminated in a report issued this year to help SEPA members and the industry at large see clearly what can be accomplished as the industry ramps up its modernization efforts. This episode was recorded earlier this year but due to our scheduling limitations, it is being released at a key moment in history as the world meets in Glasgow Scotland and discuss what can be accomplished to further the battle against climate change...

Matthew Smith is Itron’s director of grid management and spoke with us about the growing applications that take advantage of grid-edge computing in the firm’s smart grid deployments with a special focus on wildfire prevention. We spoke about what applications Itron is offering now and also what is being tested in the field for release to customers in the near future.

EnerVenue formed to bring to market the unique hydrogen metal battery – that was reinvented by a leading materials scientist at Stanford University after decades of use in spacecraft, satellites, and the Hubble Space Telescope because it is extremely safe, extremely durable, and can take almost infinite charges and discharges. The original formula was extremely expensive but EnerVenue is here now with a much more affordable version that is ready to change the electric industry and Heinemann told us all about it.

Former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman and current Chief Regulatory Officer of Voltus Jon Wellinghoff told us about how when he led FERC, he helped establish the regulatory and legal foundation, through technical conferences, rulemakings, and ultimately in a case at the US Supreme Court, for how smart grid and its associated technologies, these days called distributed energy resources (DERs), would be introduced into markets. He helped us see the history and the very bright future he is working with Voltus to help create and this is one interview not to miss.

Foghorn COO Chris Penrose told us about his firm’s offering which began as a software platform to help manufacturers automate their operations has evolved into a flexible suite of advance automation and analysis programs being used in a wide variety of industries including buildings and campuses to monitor systems, find and fix energy waste, and help customers meet carbon reduction goals.

Sense CEO Mike Phillips and the other founders of Sense came from the speech recognition world, bringing their understanding of audio wave forms to the subtle but distinct electrical wave forms created in the home by electric appliances. The firm uses a device installed behind the meter – and more recently introduced software for use in the Landis & Gyr Revelo meter – that brings value to home owners and to their electricity providers by gleaning what devices are using how much power and when. Teamwork with Schneider Electric is bringing the firm’s software into smart homes and Phillips told us how the value of the firm’s offering is growing by sampling the waveforms on the distribution grid, too.

Brian Levite is regulatory affairs director for S&C Electric, a century-old firm that from the start was dedicated to making technology that transforms the grid into a safer and more effective system. His role allows him to deftly explain the benefits of smarter grids and he joined us to discuss the firm’s annual reliability report and some very surprising gaps in reliability that were recorded last year.