Tantalus Deploys Data Analytics to Public Power and Electric Cooperative Utilities

Smart grid technology leader Tantalus Systems announced recently (Nov 2) that six members of its growing user community have subscribed to the TUNet® Grid Reliability Analytics (TGRA) solution in the first month since commercially launching these capabilities in September of this year. TGRA is a data analytics tool that leverages power quality data accessed through Tantalus' advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) to help utilities identify failing assets deployed throughout an electric distribution grid that can lead to power outages or catastrophic fires. 

The analytics solution detects anomalies in power quality data, such as loss of voltage at the premise, blink count, aggregate blink count, maximum voltage, minimum voltage, current readings and power factor, from the edge of a utility's distribution grid. By accessing and analyzing such data from residences, commercial buildings and other end customers, TGRA is designed to enable utilities to identify symptoms of failing transformers, corroded meter sockets and splices, cracked insulators and other latent equipment problems that can lead to premature failure of critical assets that are required to reliably deliver power to homes and businesses. The ability to track the performance of the distribution grid enables these utilities to proactively manage system assets, prioritize upgrades and investments into the grid, allocate resources, reduce costs, mitigate fire risks and avoid outages resulting in an improvement to overall system performance.

"After relying on Tantalus' AMI system for several years, we decided to work with their team to determine how our utility could more proactively manage our distribution grid based on the granular data we capture. Tantalus' new analytics solution helps us quickly pinpoint power quality issues that are developing across our distribution grid that would otherwise not be visible to our operations team until becoming much more problematic," remarked Sarah Clark, AMI Coordinator at Estes Park Power and Communications. "By leveraging our AMI data through this new analytics tool, Tantalus is helping our utility identify areas of vulnerability across our grid and correspondingly prioritize capital expenditures to improve the resiliency and reliability of the services we provide to our community." 

By leveraging TGRA, utilities are able to enhance customer relations and member satisfaction by using AMI data to proactively solve problems before underlying issues lead to sustained power outages.

"Our purpose is to help utilities transform their distribution grids into digital networks that are more resilient, reliable and efficient," said Peter Londa, President & CEO of Tantalus Systems. "Launching our new analytics tool is a concrete example of how we are enabling utilities to go beyond the traditional notion of AMI systems by analyzing data captured by our devices to provide situational awareness and granular command and control of the assets utilities deploy to safely and reliably deliver power to their customers and members. We truly appreciate the opportunity to work alongside utilities such as Estes Park to deliver solutions that empower utilities to proactively make the necessary investments that improve the reliability and resiliency of the electric distribution grid."

_{Source: Tantalus Systems}

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Upcoming Events of Interest from SGO:

2nd Long-Duration Energy Storage Forum, November 16-17, 2021, 100% Virtual
https://www.smartgridobserver.com/storage

Webinar: Performance-based Ratemaking -- The future utility regulatory model, November 30, 2021
https://smartgridobserver.com/PBR/

8th Annual Demand Response & Distributed Energy Resources World Forum, December 7-8, 2021, 100% Virtual
https://www.smartgridobserver.com/DER-Forum/

6th Annual Smart Cities Technology Symposium & Exhibition, January 18-19, 2022, Chicago
https://smartcities-symposium.com/

14th Microgrid Global Innovation Forum - North America, February 15-16, 2022, Sacramento
https://www.microgridinnovation.com/North-America/

15th Microgrid Global Innovation Forum - EMEA, April 12-14, 2022, London
https://www.microgridinnovation.com/EMEA/