Smart Grid

Energy Conservation is Only the Beginning

Deploying a smart grid network empowers residents to reduce their power consumption, provides the local utility with real-time demand response to avoid brownouts and supports green energy options. These measures offset the need for costly and environmentally harmful solutions to increase generating capacity, such as building a new coal plant or damming a river for hydro.

However, reduced energy consumption does result in reduced revenue for the utility. If the utility has used a wireless solution for its broadband network, the ongoing costs may be relatively low, but how does the utility further leverage this network investment to offset that loss of revenue? The commonly proposed wireless networks for smart grid are only able to carry data traffic in short bursts, so their application for other revenue-generating activities may be limited.

When considering a smart grid implementation, public utilities everywhere must take into account the larger role they can play in their communities as engines for economic growth. By rolling out advanced next-generation broadband services in circumstances where there is not an incumbent service provider that is willing or able to do so, the utility can help attract and retain skilled workers and anchor employers to their community.

In this content, the ideal network architecture for a smart grid deployment must have the bandwidth capabilities and reliability to go beyond power management. Wireless is not enough.

An FTTx network, on the other hand, provides utilities with a broadband network capable of supporting a robust and reliable smart grid, as well the infrastructure to create new streams of revenue with residential services such as HDTV, Internet and telephone, as well as premium business services.

Enablence has worked with numerous public utilities to deploy an advanced FTTx network that supports their smart grid objectives and provisions a broader range of value-added services that benefit their communities, generate new revenues and grow profit margins.

Learn more about how we can help you cost-effectively deploy an efficient smart grid network that has the horsepower and reliability to drive growth and development in your community.