From Real-Time Metering to Performance Monitoring, Devices Designed to Increase Efficiency
Out of all the utility industry vendors who came from across the country to market their wares in San Diego, the one whose theme most closely reflected California’s energy crisis was Convergent Group.
The display booth of the Englewood, Colo.-based company was designed to look like something out of the Australian outback , as seen on the television show “Survivor II.” Only the strong will survive industry upheavals, their signs stated.
Many of the 250 exhibitors at the Distributech 2001 trade show, held Feb. 5-7 at the San Diego Convention Center, showcased products designed to help utilities be more efficient in managing their power. Some of them went so far as to say these products could help a state like California as it suffers through the throes of its current energy crisis.
Convergent, for example, offers both utilities and their customers the ability to get the most out of their energy usage. Its software uses “real-time metering” to track when and how consumers are using energy, thus giving them a better idea of how much the power costs at the moment it is being used, said Paul Yarka, vice president of strategic development for Convergent.
Using Convergent’s technology, 400,000 customers of the utility Puget Power are able to track the minute-to-minute changes in the cost of their power, thus allowing them to choose whether to use energy at that moment or shift their energy use to off-peak times and save, he said.
Another Convergent application allows utilities to track energy information more efficiently for itself and its customers, Yarka said.
Utility Performance Monitor
Plymouth, Minn.-based CES International, meanwhile, was marketing a “real-time performance monitor.” The software analyzes a utility’s use of energy as it occurs, offering recommendations to help improve the power system planning process.
Typically, a power distribution company overbuilds capacity to guarantee power will be available during peak demand times. That can be costly, said Kenneth Geisler, vice chairman and founder of CES.
Up-to-date information from CES will help a utility lower its margin of error, so it can provide the same amount of power with less capacity. That means the company can better use its already existing assets without affecting service, he said.
Local company Metallic Power, based in Carlsbad, had another solution. Its prototype PersonalPower 2000 is a fuel cell that chemically converts commonplace zinc into zinc oxide, producing electricity in the process.
The zinc oxide cartridges can then be converted back into zinc through an electric-powered charger, said Margaret Deardorf, marketing director for Metallic Power.
Many Applications
There are several practical applications of this system , including “peak shaving.” A company can use the device to store electricity for later use, purchasing the electricity during off-peak times and using the stored energy during peak periods, she said.
The PersonalPower can also be used as a back-up device in case of power outages. As a back-up system, the zinc-air fuel cell has more energy density than batteries, and therefore lasts longer than battery back-up, Deardorf said.
Not all the exhibitors were interested in solving California’s energy crisis. Jay Smith, director of diversified services for Dubois, Pa.-based Services Technology and Resources Corp., sat in front of a sign stating that Pennsylvania is the home of “deregulation done right.”
STARcorp serves an industrial park in the state and works with the utility on economic development issues, he said.
“Some companies may consider moving out of California, to go someplace where they don’t have power problems. So we say, ‘Come to Pennsylvania,'” Smith said. “If they’re going to relocate, if they’re going to start up a new plant, we’d like them to come to our place.”
Martin Rosenberg, editor-in-chief of the trade magazine Utility Business, said the convention in San Diego was about whether utilities would prepare themselves for future shakeups.
Utilities Committed To Upgrades?
“All the new technologies are here. (The question) is whether utilities around the country, particularly in light of what’s happening in California (are) committed to making the capital investment to upgrade their network to avoid brownouts and blackouts,” he said.
Rosenberg noted the utilities, while blamed for lack of such investment in the past, have nonetheless been able to keep energy markets going for the past 50 years. However, that doesn’t mean they will continue to do well in the future, he said.
