Power-line communication (PLC) is the carrying of data on a conductor that is also used simultaneously for AC electric power transmission or electric power distribution to consumers. The line that does so is known as a power-line carrier.
Distributed generation, also distributed energy, on-site generation (OSG), or district/decentralized energy, is electrical generation and storage performed by a variety of small, grid-connected or distribution system-connected devices referred to as distributed energy resources (DER).
Automatic meter reading (AMR) is the technology of automatically collecting consumption, diagnostic, and status data from water meter or energy metering devices and transferring that data to a central database for billing, troubleshooting, and analyzing. This technology mainly saves utility providers the expense of periodic trips to each physical location to read a meter. Another advantage is that billing can be based on near real-time consumption rather than on estimates based on past or predicted consumption. This timely information coupled with analysis can help both utility providers and customers better control the use and production of electric energy, gas usage, or water consumption.
Energy demand management, also known as demand-side management (DSM) or demand-side response (DSR), is the modification of consumer demand for energy through various methods such as financial incentives and behavioral change through education.
A smart meter is an electronic device that records information—such as consumption of electric energy, voltage levels, current, and power factor—and communicates the information to the consumer and electricity suppliers. Such an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) differs from automatic meter reading (AMR) in that it enables two-way communication between the meter and the supplier.
Nova Scotia Power Inc. is a vertically integrated electric utility in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is privately owned by Emera and regulated by the provincial government via the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (NSUARB). Nova Scotia Power Inc provides electricity to 520,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in Nova Scotia.
A virtual power plant (VPP) is a system that integrates multiple, possibly heterogeneous, power sources to provide grid power. A VPP typically sells its output to an electric utility. VPPs allow energy resources that are individually too small to be of interest to a utility to aggregate and market their power. As of 2024, VPPs operated in the United States, Europe, and Australia.
Landis+Gyr is a publicly listed, multinational corporation operating in over 30 countries and headquartered in Cham, Switzerland. Landis+Gyr makes meters and related software for electricity and gas utilities.
The smart grid is an enhancement of the 20th century electrical grid, using two-way communications and distributed so-called intelligent devices. Two-way flows of electricity and information could improve the delivery network. Research is mainly focused on three systems of a smart grid – the infrastructure system, the management system, and the protection system. Electronic power conditioning and control of the production and distribution of electricity are important aspects of the smart grid.
An electrical grid is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids consist of power stations, electrical substations to step voltage up or down, electric power transmission to carry power long distances, and lastly electric power distribution to individual customers, where voltage is stepped down again to the required service voltage(s). Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. From small to large there are microgrids, wide area synchronous grids, and super grids.
Google PowerMeter was a software project of Google's philanthropic arm, Google.org, to help consumers track their home electricity usage. It was launched on October 5, 2009, and ended on September 16, 2011. The development of the software was part of an effort by Google to invest in renewable energy, electricity grid upgrades, and other measures that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The software was designed to record the user's electricity usage in near real-time. Google partnered with various companies during the project.
Shell Energy Retail Limited was a British consumer gas, electricity and broadband provider. Formerly a subsidiary of Shell, the business was acquired by Octopus Energy in December 2023.
Tropos Networks is a wireless mesh networking company that provides hardware, embedded software and network management application software for building large scale wireless networks. These networks are used by utilities, municipalities, public safety agencies, mines and others that need to communicate with fixed and mobile assets, as well as mobile workers, in the field. The company was founded in 2000 by Narasimha Chari, Devabhaktuni "Sri" Srikrishna, Christian Dubiel and Jonathan Goldenstein. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. In June 2012, it was acquired by ABB Power Grids Group, now Hitachi Energy.
The OpenHAN standards for home networks was promoted by groups such as openAMI and UtilityAMI. Both efforts aim to standardize powerline networking interoperation from a utility point of view and ensure reliable communications co-extant with AC power outlets. Both utilities and vendors of home control have promoted such standards aggressively. The openHAN label usually denotes standards favored by the utilities, not other service providers. It should be distinguished from the openADR standards that were promoted to ensure open access to customer electricity use data by all service providers.
Silver Spring Networks, a subsidiary of Itron, is a provider of smart grid products, headquartered in San Jose, California, with offices in Australia, Singapore, Brazil, and the United Kingdom. Besides communications devices, Silver Spring Networks develops software for utilities and customers to improve energy efficiency. Founded in 2002 backed by venture capital, Silver Spring Networks went public on the New York Stock Exchange on March 13, 2013. Itron acquired Silver Spring Networks in January 2018 for $830 million.
The term smart grid is most commonly defined as an electric grid that has been digitized to enable two way communication between producers and consumers. The objective of the smart grid is to update electricity infrastructure to include more advanced communication, control, and sensory technology with the hope of increasing communication between consumers and energy producers. The potential benefits from a smart grid include increased reliability, more efficient electricity use, better economics, and improved sustainability.
Smart grid policy in the United States refers to legislation and other governmental orders influencing the development of smart grids in the United States.
The UCLA Smart Grid Energy Research Center (SMERC), located on the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, is an organization focused on developing the next generation of technologies and innovation for Smart Grid. SMERC partners with government agencies, technology providers, Department of Energy (DOE) research labs, universities, utilities, policymakers, electric vehicle manufacturers, and appliance manufacturers. These partnerships provide SMERC with diverse capabilities and exceptional, mature leadership.
In Iran, like many other developed countries, Smart Grid implementation is regarded as a unique way for encountering many serious environmental and economic challenges that mankind is faced today. FAHAM is the National Smart Metering Program in Iran. The functional, technical, security, economic, and general requirements of this project was published as a document after a longtime workgroup of various stakeholders including representative of grid operators, meter manufactures, communication providers, business layer software providers, domestic and international consultants. The procedure of producing this document was base on EPRI Methodology. In these technical documents all of the business and functional use cases, the conceptual architecture, mandatory international standards for electric, water and gas metering systems(for all types of consumers), telecommunication requirements, system interfaces and security mandates are defined. The ministry of energy decided to perform a pilot project called FAHAM-phase1, in order to experiment the execution and technical challenges for implementing Smart Metering for all of the consumers.
Wize technology is a low-power wide-area network technology using the 169 MHz radio frequency. It was created by the Wize Alliance in 2017. Derived from the European Standard Wireless M-Bus, it has mainly been used by utility companies for smart metering infrastructures (AMI) for gas, water and electricity but is equally open to other applications in industry and 'Smart City' spaces.
$2 billion (2021) [5] 
