The industry keeps getting smarter and smarter: Hot topics at DistribuTECH January 31, 2012

Analytics, metrics, meters, home automation gadgets, bucket trucks, plug-in electric cars, dog bite repellent and some remote control vehicle that looked like the Mars lander. Even Hooter’s girls. Yes, the 2012 DistribuTECH had something for just about everyone last week in San Antonio.

Once again, the exhibit hall was extensive, or, as one attendee quipped, “big enough to land a [Boeing] 747 on.” We at Chartwell couldn’t cover it all. So we stayed focused. What was there to improve the utility customer experience? And the answer: still plenty. Here’s a recap of some of the things we saw and heard for those of you who missed DistribuTECH 2012, including what we came away with as the big three topics related to the end-use utility customer:

Data analytics

There was a lot of noise on the exhibit hall floor about this important and evolving topic. A number of leading vendors, including Oracle, Itron, Aclara Technologies, Calico Energy, Telvent, eMeter and others promoted or launched products to help utilities harness the massive amounts of data from not only interval meters but other sources (grid sensors, load control events, weather information, etc.) into more intelligent grid operation.So just how can data analytics improve the customer experience? According to Andy Zetlan, vice president of product management for Aclara, by giving utilities the ability to better manage their data along with a single “view” of each customer those utilities can then improve programs and services, such as demand response efforts, and enhance customer engagement initiatives. Aclara and Calico Energy announced a partnership that will rely on the latter’s operations management application integrated with Aclara’s customer communications and metering platforms for state-of-the-art demand response. The Aclara Demand Response Management System will allow utilities to see and surgically control all of their resources in one place. “It gives [utilities] the ability to analyze what worked, and what didn’t work” during an event, says Tom Doggett, chief marketing officer for Calico Energy.

Oracle Utilities’ Guerry Waters, vice president, industry strategy, noted in an interview that Oracle provides “out-of-the-box analytics” as a rapid way for utilities to launch new analytics capabilities as they work to improve customer service while reducing costs. Oracle unveiled several dashboards at the show, including Oracle Utilities Meter Data Analytics and Mobile Workforce Analytics, all which would naturally integrate with the Oracle software.

Itron also offered Chartwell a demonstration of its new Active Smart Grid Analytics platform. Itron’s Darby McKee, director of software products, told Chartwell the new ASA platform will right out of the gate help utilities in the areas of theft detection, transformer management and power quality.

Much of the analytics solutions showcased at DistribuTECH are in the pilot phase at select utilities, but appear to offer great promise in helping utilities get their arms around the data dilemma that is growing for utilities.

Customer Engagement

Lots of vendors have the solution for this, yet it’s an issue that continues to dog utilities that deal with growing privacy and safety concerns. While those things must be dealt with, the bigger concern for utilities remains consumer apathy – getting them interested enough to take advantage of all the bells and whistles that were on display in San Antonio last week. Gamification was a big topic of conversation, and a number of utilities discussed how they’ve taken to Facebook and other media as a way to get customers involved.

Opower was demonstrating the much-talked about social media application they’re developing in conjunction with the Natural Resources Defense Council and Facebook. Though not yet public, it appears to have all the makings of the next Farmville once it goes live – still, it may require utility involvement and connectivity to truly get customers the data they may covet. Of course, consumers whose utilities are not involved will get a message to that effect – social marketing at its finest.New York-based Con Edison in conjunction with ThinkEco and its technology that will shut off appliances when not in use, talked about how a demand response initiative in the Big Apple last summer pitted apartment building against apartment building in a social marketing effort to get more users taking part.

Perhaps Comverge CTO Bud Vos summed up the customer engagement issue best during a presentation when he said that home energy management is “trying to create a dialogue between utility and customer, but the customer doesn’t want to have a very long conversation.”

Another interesting play was offered by Capgemini Energy, which would remain device neutral while managing a utility’s entire home energy management and demand response program. In other words, no matter which smart thermostats and DR tech the customer has outfitted in the home – Honeywell, Ecobee or even the much-coveted Nest, Capgemini would manage the DR program and work with the utility and customers to ensure program success.

Though it wasn’t on display, perhaps the customer engagement tool that was discussed the most during DistribuTECH was the “Green Button.” Based on the White House initiative to get consumers involved in their energy usage, utilities across North America starting in – you guessed it – California will place a green button on their customers’ energy usage page at the utility website. The customer will then get up to 13 months of electricity usage data, either monthly or more frequent. The California utilities went live with the green button just prior to the conference. Government officials hope the green button will spur development and ingenuity around energy usage data communications and apps, including gamification and energy usage notification devices.

Electric Vehicles

The plug-in electric vehicle (EV) movement was indeed present at DistribuTECH. An EV presentation garnered one of the highest-attended sessions that we saw, and there were several EVs and numerous charging station technologies on display throughout the massive exhibit hall. In fact, the first gadget that one saw when walking onto the exhibit floor was a charging station display showcased by Schneider Electric. A number of smart grid vendors are hitching their wagons to the EV train, which only makes sense. After all, EV adoption is of great interest to the utilities as they look at strategies for metering EVs and whether or not to offer special pricing programs for EV owners.

Other hot topics: Prepay metering, smart grid in the cloud, smart grid sensors and distribution technology, and where to get the best steaks and Southwestern food.

Indeed, DistribuTECH 2012 offered a wide array of smart grid technologies and supporting products. As for the Hooter’s girls, well, they did a nice job of walking the exhibit hall floor and steering patrons to various product demonstrations. Not that anyone noticed.