Delivery & Smart Grid Solutions

The advanced distribution network envisioned by smart grid proponents requires the integration of communication networks and sensors with the analytical capabilities of information technology (IT). Automating the grid in this way should conceivably generate immediate responses to problems that are self-diagnosed in real time. For instance, crews closest to an outage will be automatically dispatched, and the best available subject matter expert will be automatically alerted and engaged with field resources in response to specific field situations. Such advanced analytical capabilities rely upon an accurate and complete network data model to ensure reliability.

Microsoft and its partners such as Avanade and Enspiria makes business intelligence (BI) technology tools available to civil and electrical engineers, technicians, plant managers, planners, customer service representatives, safety officers, human resources personnel, and others throughout a utility. Through enhancements in data transformation, aggregation, analysis, reporting, and integration with Microsoft Office, decision makers at all levels of a utility can have the data they need, in the time and format they want it. Microsoft BI solutions integrate with utilities' existing technology and operational environment for transmission and distribution, taking advantage of existing IT assets and reducing the need for big new expenditures on the systems utilities rely on for achieving a smarter grid.

Distribution management systems support operations of the electric system through applications that process topology; balance online, three-phase distribution power flows; analyze contingencies; and perform analyses for study mode, switch order management, short circuits, volt/volt-ampere reactive power (VAR) management and loss, and arguably the most important distribution operations function-outage management. DMS applications require an electric system model that includes connectivity, impedance, equipment, load distribution, and most likely geographic coordinates for all components. Obtaining such data and enabling regular updates require access to data that originates in sources such as GIS/AM-FM (geographic information system/automated mapping-facilities management), customer information systems (CIS)/billing, and system study load-flow packages.

Microsoft partner AREVA offers state-of-the-art distribution management capabilities that allow utilities to plug in new automation capabilities and associated information sources and leverage them to further optimize the distribution grid. Microsoft is working with AREVA to further assist the EMS, DMS, and market management solutions that play key roles in a utility's overall ability to deliver a smarter grid.

The evolution of the smarter grid will require real-time monitoring and management from energy management systems. New EMS requirements include the automation of substations, optimization of markets, and archiving historical data to be used in planning and analysis.

With partners like AREVA and the application of Microsoft's SQL Server 2008, PerformancePoint, Windows Server, Visual Studio Team Forums, and Systems Management Servers, utility workers can enhance their management of transmission and distribution grid capabilities and improve operational efficiency across the utility value chain. Utilities will be able to transform the current structure of the electric grid into a more intelligent system that is reliable, stable, and energy-efficient.

Characterized as it is by distributed yet connected equipment, the smarter grid will require that utilities are acutely aware of where their equipment and resources are located across thousands of square miles. Customer care representatives, dispatch personnel, managers, executives, and field crews will need easy ways to visualize and manage the grid and various transmission and distribution assets. At the same time, they'll require accurate and precise information about assets on the grid, including location and connectivity, even to the end user.

The smarter grid will be managed by utility personnel using geographic information systems (GIS) that operate on their own communication network. With partner ESRI, Microsoft has demonstrated that Microsoft SQL Server 2008 can break down the organizational silos that contain spatial data. The solutions equip utility personnel throughout the enterprise with spatially enabled applications that leverage Bing Maps, an essential requirement for enabling quick and very quick decision making. In the smart grid era, such access to information will turn spatial data into actionable information.

Rising demand and increasing energy costs have created a new type of energy consumer, one that converts their home into a meaningful energy conservation opportunity.

And the smart energy home of tomorrow isn't just about smart appliances; it's also about putting consumer-friendly technology in consumers' hands so they can manage their energy use. Consumers can take advantage of a technology boom to gather information and manage their energy consumption with products and services already on the market.

These technology advances appeal to consumers motivated to lessen their carbon footprint and preserve the environment, and those who simply want to live more economically. Consumers who conserve also help utilities prepare to manage more zero-carbon energy sources such as wind and solar and manage demand while keeping the lights on.

Hohm, a new online application that enables consumers to better understand their energy usage by creating a detailed report about their home's energy consumption, and then offering advice on how to cut energy use.

Microsoft Hohm uses advanced analytics licensed from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy to provide consumers with personalized energy-saving recommendations. Microsoft Hohm is an easy-to-use tool that helps consumers lower their energy bill and reduce their impact on the environment. The application is available at no cost to anyone in the United States with an Internet connection.

Forecasting, planning, and scheduling can positively-or negatively-affect overtime costs, travel time between jobs, and overall service levels. Good delivery practices mean having the correct resources, with the appropriate skills and parts, in place and being ready and able to mobilize at the right time. While many utilities have sought various money-saving solutions for their fleets over the years, better scheduling through software solutions can realize true savings and make a lot of sense.

Microsoft partner ClickSoftware is making a difference in the areas of mobility and mobile workforce management by offering advanced scheduling, forecasting, and planning solutions for utilities. By migrating its solutions to the Microsoft platform using Microsoft Office SharePoint Server and SQL Server Reporting Services, ClickSoftware is improving utilities' overall scheduling functions. And as a green byproduct, it is helping utilities with their fleet fuel conservation efforts, as better scheduling reduces fuel consumption and decreases emissions. Better scheduling also improves business processes, which is important when utilities face worker shortages as long-time employees retire.

Managing large capital projects properly can save millions of dollars. Traditionally, utilities have used rigorous manual processes, only to find that these processes could be applied to only a limited set of projects. Manual processes lacked the ability to simulate large complex projects and then identify problems before work begins. They also failed to provide the deep and persistent visibility of key performance indicators that can ensure successful completion of large capital projects across an enterprise.

Project intelligence (PI) solutions from Microsoft and partners such as Bentley and Pcubed enable utilities to deploy best practices for project management and innovation across all their projects. Microsoft's integrated business intelligence solution combines with the capabilities of Microsoft Project Server to bring PI to utilities, along with associated management and project innovation capabilities. The capabilities go beyond traditional project management to enhance a wide variety of existing technologies such as collaboration in design, advanced 3-D simulation/modeling, management of government funding programs to infrastructure lifecycle management.

Once smart meters are installed, utilities will face the daunting challenge of receiving data from millions of devices dispersed across their operating areas. Data will flood their IT infrastructures and pose unprecedented challenges for management and comprehension. Utilities will need IT solutions that help with meter data management (MDM) and the advanced metering infrastructure.

Microsoft and partner Itron have created management and flexibility capabilities that help utilities determine the right intervals that make sense for their smart meter programs and adjust as new technologies become available. Through a series of tests that comprised 4.5 million meters with half-hourly data (a volume equivalent to nine million hourly meters), Microsoft and Itron have verified that Itron's MDM solution meets and exceeds all the required performance and scalability demands to satisfy large-scale installations. Working together, Itron and Microsoft established that Itron's architecture will flexibly scale to meet the future needs of customers and the requirements of advanced metering infrastructure.