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Feb 02 , 2012
Attention and care for customer's bungalow and garden were integral to Smart Circuits project
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Avista crews took careful measures recently to ensure
no damage was done to a customer’s historic 1912
bungalow and garden during the installation of a
utility pole nearby. The work was part of Avista’s
Smart Circuits project. We listened to our customer’s
concerns and modified our plan to everyone’s
satisfaction. It might be a big project, but we know
how much each interaction matters.
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Poles and electric wires – up above, down below, on the street and by your home. It’s a necessity, and a fundamental part of our business. So every day, Avista is out in neighborhoods placing poles and wires, or replacing them as they age or when new technology comes out to serve you better.
The work we do could literally be in your own back yard – and we want you to be happy with it. Such was the case with Avista customers, Jim and Ann Price, whose historic 1912 bungalow and garden in Spokane had to be accessed in order to place a new pole in a utility easement on his property. The job also entailed removing a very old pole from an adjoining lot.
This specific work, which is part of the Spokane Smart Circuits project, is part of a design to replace large power lines that connect different areas of our system on the South Hill.
The couple was concerned about how Avista and other contractors were going to bring the equipment in on their property to place the pole. Typical equipment used to place power poles would not be able to negotiate the small gravel driveway without threatening irreparable harm to either the bungalow or the garden.
The Construction Project Coordinator for the project, John Hanna, took the time to listen to the couple and work with them.
“After listening to the Mr. Price’s concerns, I assured him of two things,” Hanna said. “First, he would be informed of our plan throughout the entirety of the project, and secondly, we were not done until he was satisfied.”
Hanna, along with a team consisting of Avista Real Estate Representative Claude Kahler, Electric Inspector Joe Vigliotta, Mountain Power Line Foreman Rick Larson, and Asplundh Tree Foreman Steve Guiterez and Work Planner Zeb Rosenthal worked with the customer and created an alternative plan.
According to Jim Price, "The men devoted a great deal of time and attention to seeing that care of our property was an important part of the project ... all of the workers were pleasant, considerate and informative."
Workers dug the hole for the pole by hand and with a jackhammer, instead of using an excavator as they normally would. Aside from a small cart and crane to transport and place the pole, no other trucks or mechanical equipment entered the property.
From beginning to end, work caused minimal disruption and no damage to the bungalow or the customer's garden.
In addition, Hanna and the customer agreed that the best use of the customer’s pine tree that was removed during the project was to donate it as firewood to SNAP. Hanna arranged for four supervised inmates from Geiger Correctional Facility to pick up and deliver the firewood to SNAP. He even surprised the inmates with doughnuts to say “thank you.”
The work done is a great example of how Avista employees work with customers, other businesses and the community to improve the quality of life and energy.
About Avista’s Smart Circuits project
Avista’s Smart Circuits project is all about upgrading electric facilities in the Spokane area to support the technologies of today and tomorrow. Ultimately, this work will result in greater energy efficiency in our delivery of energy. Improving our equipment with smarter technology delays the need for new generation facilities, which is very costly to build. Upgrading our electric facilities with smarter technology also makes future integration of renewable generation resources possible. To learn more about our smart grid projects, visit www.avistautilities.com, keyword: smart grid.
Feb 10 , 2011
WSU Cable 8 Video
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An advanced meter that will be used on the
project. | Washington State University student Tyler Slauson, of WSU’s Cable 8 News, recently produced the above video on Avista’s Pullman Smart Grid Project. The report provides a good overview of the project that will soon be ramping up in the community.
If you’re a WSU student or member of the community and would like us to feature your video, podcast or article about the smart grid project or anything else concerning Avista or energy, send us an e-mail here at the Avista Blog to make it happen.
Jan 24 , 2011
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Community members learned about Avista's pullman smart grid project at a meeting on January 24, 2011. |
Advanced meters to be installed in Pullman and Albion, Washington
Avista and its project partners, including Battelle, updated Pullman community leaders on the Pullman Smart Grid Demonstration Project today and outlined project plans for 2011.
While the first year of the five-year project focused on updating and automating Pullman’s distribution system, the second year will primarily involve the installation of Itron advanced meters in the city of Pullman, Wash. and the community of Albion, Wash. Approximately 13,000 electric and 5,000 natural gas customers will have their meters upgraded to the new, digital meters, with some customers receiving both electric and natural gas meters. The new meters will be installed over several months beginning in March, 2011.
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"The most important aspects of the
Pullman Smart Grid Demonstration
project are the advantages it can pote-
ntially create for our customers,” said
Heather Cummins, Avista’s director of
process improvement, who leads Avista’s
smart grid programs. | Advanced meters operate via a secure wireless network, allowing two-way, real-time communication between the customers’ meter and Avista, so Avista can provide information to customers about their ongoing energy usage through a secure website. Later this year, customers with advanced meters should be able to log into their Avista Utilities account and access additional enhanced web tools to monitor their energy usage throughout the month so they can make more informed decisions about their energy use.
“The most important aspects of the Pullman Smart Grid Demonstration project are the advantages it can potentially create for our customers,” said Heather Cummins, Avista’s director of process improvement, who leads Avista’s smart grid programs.
The advanced meters have the ability to automatically detect and report an outage at a customer’s home or business. The meters are part of an automated distribution system that reduces outage frequency and duration for all customers.
“Having outage information available almost instantly can help our crews to more quickly and efficiently restore power to our customers,” said Dan Johnson, Avista’s Project Manager for the Pullman project.
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A sneek peek at the advanced meters that
allow Avista's smart grid project to work. | Avista will notify customers who will be receiving the new meters with a letter over the next few weeks, and will continue to update customers with information about the demonstration project and technology throughout the project. Customers can also find information online at avistautilities.com.
The Pullman Smart Grid Demonstration Project is part of the Pacific Northwest Grid Demonstration Project, led by Battelle, to demonstrate smart grid technologies using matching stimulus monies from the U.S. Department of Energy. Avista is leading the five-year Pullman Smart Grid Demonstration Project, and will contribute $14.9 million with its local partners contributing an additional $4 million to create a smart grid in Pullman.
“We envision the smart grid to be a more efficient and effective electricity infrastructure that can help contain costs, reduce emissions, incorporate renewable energy, increase power grid reliability and provide greater flexibility for consumers,” Cummins said. “Over the long-term, it could modernize our traditional, one-way power delivery system to an automated, two-way exchange of information and multi-directional power flow.”
Cost-share partners for the Pullman Project are Itron, Washington State University, Hewlett Packard and Spirae. Other partners include vendors and contractors such as Scope and Efacec Advanced Control Systems, who will provide product and services including equipment and installation. Many of the project’s smart grid devices incorporate relay devices produced by Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc., which remains a supportive contributor to the overall success of the SGDP project.
Jul 22 , 2010
Reading by candle light á la Ben Franklin? More like Kindle light á la the smart grid
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The Amazon Kindle is just one of the many e-book
readers out there gaining popularity and allowing for
more interactivity while reading. | Post by Dan Kolbet
Last weekend I took my family to a local lake for a day at the beach. We fit in just like everyone else. Young kids, umbrella, packed lunches and the ever-present smell of sunscreen.
While our daughters played in the sand in front of us, my wife and I both pulled out books to pass the time. But here’s where we differ. My wife’s novel was of the “old fashioned” variety, or if you prefer, a printed book. I flipped on my Amazon Kindle DX, which allowed me to access more than just my current spy novel, but my entire library from the past year.
I made sure to charge up the device at home the night before – to make sure I wouldn’t get stuck with a dead battery halfway through the next action sequence. I wasn’t too worried. One charge of a few hours usually lasts me about two weeks. I made it through a few short chapters in between trips to the waves and games of catch with the kids.
This relatively inconsequential experience got me thinking more about how much I depend on electricity. Sure, if the lights go out during a storm, you can’t escape it. But to pass the time you might grab a book (á la Ben Franklin with a candle). Better make sure your e-book has some juice.
This week, Amazon noted that it currently sells more Kindle e-books than hardcover books. The Kindle, Apple’s iPad, Barnes and Noble’s Nook, among others are continuing to grow in popularity and I would argue that they are more making reading more personal and enjoyable than ever before. No need to drive to your local store, browse pretty pictures on the covers of your books then commit to one, drive home and start reading only to find out this book isn’t for you. You can shop, sample and buy (or decide not to buy) from anywhere. You can set the font of your book to suit your tastes or visual needs. And you can carry your entire library with you all the time.
But you need one thing – electricity.
It’s true that you can plug in just about anywhere you go to get your e-book powered up, and thanks to the long battery life of these devices, you should be A-OK during storm season. But as these devices, or other electronics that we probably can’t imagine yet, become mainstream, our dependence on electricity will have saturated every aspect of our lives – even more than it is today. Just think of what your living room looked like 15 years ago. Did you have a DVR, laptop, DVD player, X-Box 360, smart phone, e-book or wireless modem, plugged in? I dare you to say yes. We just didn’t have access to this sort of technology for entertainment and communications back then.
And “back then” wasn’t that long ago. So what will your living room (or trip to the beach) look like 5, 10 or 15 years from today? I certainly don’t have an answer, but I know it will continue to rely on energy, and I’m glad Avista will be around to provide it.
We talk a lot about the smart grid and the future of energy. The definition of smart grid is really dependant on who is defining it, but I’d offer this – it’s about you having more control of your energy usage and your utility having better ways to deliver it. It will eventually provide choices for you to consider based on cost, source or whatever is important to you.
As common items like books, that have traditionally been non-electric, gain interactivity (and an electric charge), our use of energy will eventually seep into every aspect of our lives. From a ‘pursuit of happiness’ standpoint, that’s great, but there’s one thing that I urge you to remember: all these digital comforts have to be powered, so be smart about your usage. At the same time we’ll continue to plan for the future to make sure we can meet your needs.
May 28 , 2010
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An Avista lineman installs a smart grid communications device on a streetlight. |
Post & video by Dan Kolbet
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Watch a 30-second video of the device install. | It’s great to see smart grid progress. And that’s just what was happening high above Avista’s Mission Campus (Spokane) parking lot this morning. We installed a wireless communication device - or radio – on a streetlight as part of our testing of the smart grid equipment we’ll be installing in our Spokane Smart Circuits project. This device communicates to another device on our main building’s roof, which communicates to another one – and so on. This wasn’t the first device we’ve ever installed, but it’s the first one I’ve seen. Word is that we’ll be installing a few more of these at our training facility in North Spokane soon to train our employees and test the system. We’ll certainly have much more on the Spokane’s Smart Circuits project as it progresses, but I couldn’t help but share this quick update.
Watch a 30 second video of the install. Mar 30 , 2010
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Avista crews adding new,
larger power lines to area
in North Spokane. | Post by Hugh Imhof
Avista’s Spokane Smart Circuits project is officially off and rolling. On March 23, 2010 The U.S. Department of Energy and Avista signed off on an agreement that will start $20 million in investment grant funds flowing to our community.
The Department of Energy chose Avista’s smart grid project to receive the largest matching grant in Washington. Avista will contribute $22 million for a total planned project investment of $42 million. The overall project includes the deployment of a distribution management system, intelligent end devices and a communications network along 59 distribution circuits and 14 substations, which will benefit more than 110,000 electric customers
Since January Avista line crews have been preparing the distribution system for the new hardware and software additions that will be elements of the Smart Circuits project. The crews have upgraded power lines along 5.5 miles of the system.
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The cross-arm extensions were
added to this utility pole, so crews
can add new, higher capacity power
lines, while keeping customers in
service. | The new gear to be installed includes smart switches, transformers, regulators, communication devices, capacitors and more. It will take about two years to install all the new equipment and bring the system to functionality.
Once everything is completed, the project will reduce energy losses, lower system costs, increase reliability and enhance the ability to integrate distributed renewable generation resources. Customers will see fewer and shorter outages. The system efficiencies will save about 42,000 Megawatt hours a year and will prevent some 15,000 tons of carbon from being released into the atmosphere from power generation.
It is a complicated project involving many individuals and teams from throughout the company. In addition to technical design and engineering the project requires careful timing of purchasing, equipment staging, testing, training, crew scheduling, hiring personnel and much more.
We’ll post updated information about the project as it moves along further.
Feb 08 , 2010
You’ll get no argument from me. The utility business and energy is pretty complicated. Not everyone understands it completely, and that’s part of the reason Avista created this blog – to keep us all ‘in the know’.
Well, the folks at ESource have created a funny and interesting video, “to learn what everyday people think about the smart grid, utility bills, and how they can save energy.”
They approached people on the street and asked them some of the common things that utility folks talk about every day. I suspect that if you’re being honest, you’d have answered some of these questions the same way.
Nov 12 , 2009
Earlier this week I received an e-mail from an Avista customer named Steve who wanted to know about time of use rates. Coincidentally on Wednesday we had a similar question and answer published in e.view, an Avista employee publication. The info, provided here by Communications Manager Hugh Imhof is good stuff, so – here’s a Q and A about smart grid, peak power usage and time of use rates.
Question: I have been hearing a lot about smart grid technology and how the utilities will have the ability to turn off appliances especially during times of peak power usage. How do I found out when Avista's peak power usage hours are in my area? Thank you!
Answer: Smart grid technology will mean a number of different things for the electric system. Mainly it is a way to provide automation, using two-way communications within the grid, in order to increase efficiency and reliability, thereby reducing the need for new generation resources.
There is technology involved that would allow customers to monitor and better understand their usage and adjust it for greater efficiency and a savings on their bill. If customers allow us to, the utility will also have the ability to send signals to the home to reduce demand during heavy load periods (extreme weather conditions for example). This could mean turning the thermostat up or down a couple of degrees, or turning off the water heater for a couple of hours… something along those lines. By doing this we reduce overall demand and don’t have to buy expensive power on the market.
Peak loads (when electric use is high) generally occur in the morning and evening hours, before and after normal work times. Loads are lowest in the middle of the night.
In some regions utilities have what is known as “time of use” rates. This allows customers to shift their heavy usage to times when the rates are lower, i.e. late at night when demand is low. This kind of rate structure exists in areas where there is a big differential in what the utility must pay to obtain power between high load and low load periods. This mainly applies where they use a lot of coal-fired generation.
Northwest utilities, like Avista, are mainly hydro based and even though market power prices may vary greatly, there is not a big difference in the cost of generating power at different times of day. Avista has enough of its own resources that we don’t usually need to purchase market power during low load times. Someday, as our mix of generation facilities changes we may have time of use metering. For now we do offer a lot of other ways customers can reduce their energy use. Check out www.everylittlebit.com for more. Oct 27 , 2009
This morning, when I got into the office it was still just getting light outside. There was a buzz about the place and I didn’t know why. We’re just like any office, some days are more exciting than others – but today seemed special. A lot of conversations in the halls and happy faces. So, when I opened up my e-mail and found out that Avista had been selected to receive a federal matching grant worth about $20 million for smart grid work, I knew why the tone in the office was so jubilant.
This is very cool news and will give us the opportunity to upgrade a fair amount of our electric line feeder system (improving reliability for your service), lessen the impact on rates (by getting matching funds), create green jobs for our region (could be around 45 jobs), save energy (through efficiency improvements) and serve as an example for other utilities (because we’ve been doing work like this for more than 100 years).
Specifically, the project will include installation of modern equipment and software to enable smart grid capabilities and increase reliability and efficiency.
We originally applied for funds for this project last summer. Read the August 4 blog post, “ Smart grid details: Spokane’s smart circuits.” Given that this is only October, the stimulus funds process is moving at a rapid pace and we expect to start the feeder upgrade work by the end of this year. The whole project is expected to take 36 months to complete. Sep 11 , 2009
Occasionally on this blog, I’ll just keep my mouth shut and let somebody else do the talking. An informative editorial from the Spokesman-Review this morning allows me to do just that.
Happy Friday everyone.
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