Sensus, Ecologic Analytics partner for smart-grid communications
Smart-grid firm Sensus is partnering with Ecologic Analytics, a meter data management system (MDMS) provider, to provide a communications solution for electricity customers using Sensus’ FlexNet smart-meter system.
The solution provides a way for meter reading and control data to be exchanged between Sensus’ radio network interface (RNI) head end system and Ecologic’s MDMS application.
The two companies are working together to pre-integrate and test their systems to eliminate time spent in the field building ad hoc interfaces.
“Our goal is to get customers from installation to benefit realization as efficiently and predictably as possible,” said John Galloway, executive vice president for business development at Ecologic Analytics. “Using international industry standards within our products to establish open and reusable pre-integration is a key step in this process.”
The integration between systems enables functions such as:
- Daily register reads from RNI to MDMS
- 15-minute and hourly interval data from RNI to MDMS
- Remote connect/disconnect requests from MDMS to RNI
- On-demand read requests from MDMS to RNI
- Meter diagnostic data such as alerts, alarms and flags (for example, tampering) from RNI to MDMS
- On-demand power status check requests from MDMS to RNI
- Peak demand data from RNI to MDMS
“The utility marketplace is increasing its requirements for fully integrated solutions that transform data into information and ultimately into intelligence,” said Matt Zafuto, Sensus’ vice president of strategic alliances.
Both companies aim for the new partnership to help them expand nationally and globally in large-scale deployments for multi-service utilities providing electric, water and gas. The pre-integrated Ecologic MDMS-to-RNI solution for electric meter data is now generally available, with water and natural gas meter data expected to become available in the fourth quarter of this year.
