Tools that offer effective communications between utilities and their customers have opened up a broad range of new business opportunities, especially in the field of data analytics. There has been no shortage of commentary on the importance of understanding the reams of data now available to utilities from “smart” technologies if that data is to be most effectively employed.
And there are several companies offering data analytics solutions that seek to translate that data into a readable format for electricity providers. But GE has taken the additional step of creating an interface between its data analytics team and its customers – the utilities – to find out what kind of information is most valuable to them.
“We really view analytics as a game-changer in industry and a game-changer for our business,” Brian Bradford, marketing leader for GE’s energy solutions software business told Breaking Energy.
“GE has a ton of hardware out there,” Bradford said. “Every single substation has our equipment, and we have sensors and communications devices and software that can pull info back to a central location. The opportunity for GE is immense.”
GE offers a product, Grid IQ Insight, that seeks to help utilities make sense of the data provided by these systems and put it to good use. Grid IQ Insight pulls data together into a readable format that offers a clear visual representation of trends pulled from vast amounts of information. It has multiple focus areas, including evaluation of meter data, preventing and minimizing the length of outages, and management of renewables integration into the grid.
“There’s an acknowledgement by the energy and utility industry right now that all these different devices and systems in the marketplace are now overwhelming the utility with a ton of information a ton of data,” said Bradford.
“If you think about all the millions of meters, and if you look at that in an excel spreadsheet, it would be perplexing,” Bradford said. “We’ve visualized it and added analytics so utilities can see the demand on the network.”
“The reality is, there’s a ton of value in the data,” Bradford said. “Whether it’s using meter information and data, outage information and data, we take advantage of the data that’s flowing across all of our software systems, combine that with social media, weather data, and customer information, and try to find correlations and opportunities for the utility to better manage systems, to respond better and faster.”
Innovative Utility Program
Bradford acknowledged that this industry – application of analytics to energy consumption data – is still in its infancy. And as utilities are seeking a better understanding of how to meet the needs of their customers, data analytics providers are working out how best to meet utilities’ needs. This prompted GE’s establishment of the IUP, which is comprised of GE’s data analytics team and about a half dozen utilities, including Indianapolis Power & Light and American Electric Power.
“The IUP is specifically designed to be a conversation with progressive utilities that want to step in and help figure this out,” Bradford said. “We have lots of ideas about the applications of analytics on the grid,” but “to round it out, the idea was to have a group of utilities to help us think some of this through”.
He said that the goal of the program is to pull together a library of potential applications for data analytics based on cases reported by participants. “You can generate a ton of applications, but the most value-added applications are the product of a conversation, pulling in the expertise of our teams and the utilities’ teams,” Bradford said.
The IUP’s number of participants could be expanded at some point, but “we’ve already realized a ton of knowledge from the existing group that we have”, Bradford said. “At this point we’re just looking to drive for better clarity and direction to derive the most value for our customer base and industry as we try to understand how to use analytics most effectively.”
Bradford acknowledged that not all utilities might be equally open to the idea, though he indicated that data analytics is playing a more important role in all spheres, not just energy, and needs to be at least a consideration for all industries. “The reality is that every industry has its own way of doing things, and there are probably players that want to do things the way they’ve always done them. We hope to bring value to those players that view analytics as a tool to make the grid more efficient and reliable,” he said.
