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Tantalus Technology to Drive Norwich, CT Energy Efficiency Initiative
Thursday, March 3, 2011Company Profile | Follow Company
Vancouver, BC, March 3, 2011--(T-Net)--Norwich Public Utilities has selected Tantalus to provide an Advanced Metering Infrastructure system, which will enable the utility to introduce a range of energy efficiency initiatives to help customers better manage their energy costs.
Founded in 1904, NPU is a municipal utility located in southeast Connecticut that provides electricity to 22,000 customers and water, sewer, and natural gas service to 20,000 premises. It is one of the few public entities nation-wide to provide a full range of utility services including electricity, natural gas, and water and sewer to its customers. Norwich will use funds from its Department of Energy's America Reinvestment and Recovery Act grant to introduce advanced metering throughout its service area, giving it the ability to dynamically, reliably and economically balance energy supply and demand.
Norwich, a Clean Cities Coalition member, will use a combination of Tantalus's 220 MHz radio and its existing municipal fiber network to create a highly redundant, reliable, two-way communications network. The wireless TUNet® (Tantalus Utility Network) canopy establishes wide area coverage throughout NPU's urban and rural service areas.
“What sets Tantalus apart from other solutions we vetted is the flexibility and strength of their communications platform,” said Jeff Brining, NPU's Energy Services Division Manager. “Customers are starting to demand real-time information. Tantalus's system works seamlessly with our current fiber communications network and has highly effective RF capabilities which allow us to reach all of our customers.”
NPU's Operations Manager Christopher LaRose agrees. “From an operational perspective, Tantalus has been great to work with,” LaRose said. “The self-generating system easily communicates real-time information from the meters that will enable us to greatly enhance customer service in the future.”
Brining also believes increased electric vehicle (EV) adoption will require progressive action from utilities because of shifting energy consumption patterns from customers.
“On one hand, there will be added demand on our system to charge EVs, and on the other, they can be used as a storage device that can be tapped during a peak load situation. We anticipate that EVs will be very popular in the region and made sure that the system we selected possessed the ability to support bi-directional metering so we can closely monitor their impact. Tantalus proved to us that they have a technology platform that can be quickly and economically deployed, meets our current functional goals and can grow with our utility and our community.”
Tantalus President & CEO Eric Murray added: “Utilities like NPU have the foresight to address both near-term and long-term impacts to the grid and are increasingly requiring flexible networks that have the capacity, coverage, and control to handle advanced smart grid functionality. We look forward to working with Norwich as they deliver advanced metering to customers, helping them to dynamically, reliably, and economically control the balance between energy supply and demand.”
About Tantalus
Tantalus provides two-way, real-time data communications networks to monitor and control electric, gas and water utilities. TUNet® - the Tantalus Utility Network - is an end-to-end WAN/LAN/HAN communications system that operates with 220 MHz RF, 900 MHz, and IP-based networks including Fiber, WiMAX and GPRS/cellular, either individually or in combination. TUNet's patented and patents pending technologies are purpose built for the Smart Grid. The Tantalus network unites a utility's applications, making advanced metering, outage management, power quality monitoring, load control, and distribution automation cost-effective and practical throughout both urban and rural service areas. For more information, please visit www.tantalus.com.
Contacts
Rob Lauridsen-Hoegh
Tantalus - Manager, Marketing Communications
604.299.0458 x227 | rlh@tantalus.com
Josh Seidenfeld
Antenna Group for Tantalus
415.977.1953 |tantalus@antennagroup.com
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