Smarter Cities

View all Smarter cities solutions

Smart metering and beyond

Light the way to smarter energy

Utilities face mounting pressure to streamline their operations and enable consumers to manage their own consumption. Utility meters are a vital source of information about resource usage, but the data within them is often difficult and costly to collect. Leveraging state-of-the-art systems that automate data collection and link meters with network infrastructure can mean substantial enterprise savings—and better energy management for consumers.

 

No more reading. Now it's a conversation.

Smart metering and beyond from IBM is one way to help transform the way electricity is generated, transmitted, distributed and managed. Instead of meter readers making rounds on a monthly cycle, a smart meter system takes an instrumented approach, automatically collecting and transporting the reads at regular intervals or on demand. By using digital sensors, advanced communications networks and analytics, utilities can understand demand in near real time.

The solution can help your utility become more interconnected, integrating data across your enterprise to dramatically improve productivity, reduce peak demand, meet regulatory responsibilities head-on and empower your customers to conserve.

Overall, the solution adds a layer of intelligence throughout the grid to enhance system reliability and efficiency, improve management of supply and demand, optimize operations and streamline costs.

 

Drive operational excellence by improving management

The smart metering solution can help your energy or utility company:

• Improve reliability and response time to address regulatory and market pressures.
• Increase workforce productivity and safety by automating tasks and limiting the amount of onsite work required.
• Identify and locate outages quickly to speed response times.
• Generate accurate load profiles for better resource planning.
• Motivate customers to limit resource usage by implementing load controls.
• Enable time-based customer billing to help reduce peak demand, reward customers for off-peak use and provide incentives to reduce peak consumption.
• Enable zero touch service—facilitate activation of control functions (curtailment, connect, disconnect) remotely.
• Facilitate a more interactive relationship with utility consumers by enabling home area networking.
• Enhance operational awareness throughout the energy value chain, providing significant operational and planning benefits.

 

Simplify the complexity of power

The smart metering and beyond solution from IBM may include the following components:

• Intelligent management software, such as IBM® Tivoli® Identity Manager, Tivoli Access Manager, Tivoli Security and Compliance Manager and Tivoli Compliance Manager.
• IBM WebSphere® Everyplace® Connection Manager, which efficiently extends existing applications to field workers over many different wireless and wireline networks.
• IBM Content Manager, a multi-tier, distributed architecture that provides the content infrastructure for this solution.
• IBM System servers, including IBM BladeCenter® servers, which feature an advanced, modular design that provides flexibility and scalability.
• IBM System Storage™, a broad portfolio of proven storage options.
• Lenovo ThinkPad notebook computers.
• Communications gateway equipment from proven IBM Business Partners, such as Cisco Systems and Arcom Controls.

 

View all Smarter cities solutions