RALEIGH, N.C., Aug 25, 2015 (BUSINESS WIRE) —
Tantalus,
provider of TUNet®, an award-winning smart grid enterprise
communications and applications platform, announced today that it is
partnering with Marietta Power and Water, Georgia’s largest municipal
utility serving more than 45,000 electric and 17,000 water and
wastewater customers, for the implementation of a fully-automated,
two-way smart grid solution. TUNet is increasing the return on
investment (ROI) of Marietta Power’s existing Itron,
Inc.
ITRI, -1.25%
ERT® (encoder receiver transmitter) AMR
technology by remotely collecting and processing electric, water and gas
readings in near-real time with a hybrid IP and wireless-based AMI
network. Within months since deployment began, Marietta Power is now
remotely collecting meter readings from more than 36,000 electric and
water ERT devices through TUNet, translating into significant economic
benefit from streaming consumption data across the organization,
reducing field visits and reducing operational costs associated with
manual metering.
“We reached a point in our smart grid strategy where we were ready to
take the next step from basic meter reading to advanced applications
that drive measurable ROI,” said Ron Mull, General Manager for Marietta
Power and Water. “For Marietta Power and Water, the most favorable path
forward was to utilize as much of our existing investments in ERT
technology as possible, while moving to a more real-time network that
could support applications such as voltage monitoring, remote disconnect
and outage management. We set a goal to implement AMI to improve our
operating performance and reliability through integrated advanced
applications, and we’ve been pleased to see that Tantalus has proven
capable of matching our pace in both technology implementation and
support.”
Marietta Power will be able to fully automate the remote collection of
daily and interval electric and water meter readings by overlaying its
service territory with a low-maintenance and cost-effective TUNet system
while upgrading less than ten percent of its installed meters. The
utility also plans to leverage a number of advanced data-driven features
delivered through TUNet, such as improved water leak detection.
Additionally, TUNet is integrated with existing billing interfaces,
allowing the utility to leave current billing processes and meter
reading routes unchanged.
“Tantalus is pleased to partner with Marietta Power and Water as they
build out a multi-application platform capable of supporting their
immediate needs while also planning for the future,” stated Peter Londa,
President and CEO for Tantalus. “Marietta Power will leverage Tantalus’
integrated distributed computing capability, which is embedded in TUNet
endpoints, to remotely read ERT devices while supporting enhanced data
analytics and future applications such as distribution automation and
load control. This unified strategy is delivering benefits from
streamlined operations, improved customer service and quantifiable value
from investments in AMI – a top tier priority among public power
utilities.”
Marietta joins more than 20 municipal and cooperative utilities,
including Garland Power Light (TX), Coldwater Board of Public
Utilities (MI) and Piedmont Municipal Power Agency (SC), who are now
implementing this unique, low capital cost ERT-reading technology which
enables a migration from existing AMR to AMI and advanced applications.
These utilities represent just a fraction of the significant installed
base of ERT technology deployed throughout the United States.
About Tantalus
Tantalus provides a two-way, multi-purpose platform that enables access
to data to power advanced Smart Grid applications for monitoring and
control of electric, water and gas municipal and cooperative utilities.
TUNet® – the Tantalus Utility Network – is an award winning end-to-end
WAN/FAN/LAN/Grid Edge communications system that utilizes IP-based
networks including Fiber, WiMAX and cellular as well as 220 900 MHz
wireless RF. TUNet is purpose built for the Smart Grid and unites
utility applications through distributed computing capability embedded
at every endpoint. The result is enhanced value across all utility
departments through solutions such as automated metering, outage
management, power quality monitoring, load management, and distribution
automation that are both cost-effective and practical to deploy
throughout urban and rural service areas. For more information, please
visit www.tantalus.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150825006003/en/
SOURCE: Tantalus Systems, Inc.
Tantalus Systems, Inc.
Laura Wright, 919-538-0732
Marketing
Communications Manager
lwright@tantalus.com
Twitter:
@TantalusCorp
Copyright Business Wire 2015
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