California’s Glendale Water & Power (GWP), in collaboration with Dominion Voltage Inc. (DVI), a grid-optimization subsidiary of Dominion Resources (NYSE: D), has executed a full deployment license agreement for the use of DVI’s EDGE® advanced grid optimization solution.
“Last fall, we began our Volt/Var optimization (VVO) pilot with DVI,” said Steve Zurn, Glendale Water & Power’s general manager. “The EDGE® platform promised to effectively plan, manage, and validate energy savings—and it delivered on that promise. During the next five years, as we ramp up deployment to 68,000 meters, we expect savings of $3.8 million.”
GWP selected one feeder with approximately 3,800 electric meters for the pilot. DVI and GWP monitored the system and calculated energy savings fromOctober 2014 through November 2014. The testing validated the expected energy savings of 2.95 percent, well within the anticipated range of 2-4 percent. This reduction resulted in a savings of 87 megawatt hours (MWh) without requiring a change in customer behavior; when fully deployed, GWP expects to save more than 14,500 MWh each year.
“EDGE® is the ideal solution to energy efficiency, because it delivers savings to both the utility and its customers by optimizing the distribution system voltage,” said Todd Headlee, director—DVI. “It is also the only solution available that uses AMI data for grid optimization, which gives it the distinct advantage of providing the maximum amount of reliable savings at the lowest cost by using the AMI meter as the voltage sensor.”
EDGE® seamlessly integrates into a utility’s existing IT infrastructure and can obtain voltage readings from the existing AMI system. EDGE® optimizes the utilities’ field devices by issuing commands over an existing wide area network to optimize the distribution system voltage.
About DVI: DVI is a leading provider of grid optimization technology, providing solutions for energy efficiency, demand response, volt/VAR control, and renewables integration. DVI’s patented approach plans, manages and validates utilities’ investments in grid efficiency while delivering significant savings to both utilities and their customers. For more information about DVI, visit www.dvigridsolutions.com
DVI is a subsidiary of Dominion Resources Inc. (NYSE: D), one of the nation’s largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 24,600 megawatts of generation, 12,200 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipeline, and 6,455 miles of electric transmission lines. Dominion operates one of the nation’s largest natural gas storage systems with 928 billion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves utility and retail energy customers in 13 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company’s website at www.dom.com.
About GWP
Glendale Water & Power is the City of Glendale’s utility. Glendale Water & Power generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to 85,358 residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Glendale, CA. The city-owned utility also provides water to 33,744 customers.