Tantalus enables new smart-meter functions for industrial users
Smart-grid communications firm Tantalus is targeting utilities with a new meter module designed to help commercial and industrial customers get greater insights into their energy usage and costs.
The enhanced functionality module for GE’s Kv2c and Kv2c(+) polyphase meters for commercial and industrial users will provide:
- More extensive reporting of critical energy data including cumulative kilowatt-hours (kWh), instantaneous voltage and current by phase, and combined line frequency and power factor. All data can be delivered at utility-defined intervals ranging from five minutes to two hours, or can be requested on demand.
- More extensive reporting of current and prior period peak data.
- More reset functions with both scheduled and unscheduled demand reset capabilities. This will allow utilities to better respond to customer situations where demand resets are required and avoid the costs associated with visiting the meters to perform the reset.
- An increased level of power quality monitoring, which provides more granular voltage and outage information. This will help utilities monitor power quality and react proactively when anomalies are detected.
The Tantalus Utility Network, or TUNet, has been tested in a number of commercial and industrial settings. Missouri’s Laclede Electrical Cooperative, for example, uses TUNet to deliver precise, granular data from 160 of the largest facilities at Fort Leonard Wood, enabling the military base to better pursue its energy efficiency goals. In Texas, the Lamb County Electrical Cooperative uses TUNet to control and monitor water pump usage, allowing it to compensate cooperative members for demand response events and provide a mechanism for conservation — something especially critical given the state’s historic drought levels.
