Burlington Electric Department Proceeds with Siemens as a Partner for Its ARRA-funded Smart Grid Project

Vermont-based municipal utility plans to implement meter data management system for flexibility and efficiency

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Mar 20, 2012, 01:10 ET

ATLANTA, March 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Burlington Electric Department (BED), a municipal department of the City of Burlington Vt., that provides electric service to more than 16,000 residential customers and 2,700 commercial and industrial customers, has selected Siemens (NYSE: SI) for the sale and implementation of the eMeter® EnergyIP® meter data management (MDM) platform. BED and several other Vermont utilities worked together with the state of Vermont to secure Smart Grid Investment Grant funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The grant allowed BED to jump start its Smart Grid plans.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20070904/SIEMENSLOGO )

BED was looking for a meter data management system (MDMS) that could support its current needs for billing consumers from data collected from the smart meters, yet at the same time be flexible enough to adjust to the statewide functionality desired by state of Vermont regulators.

"After a methodical proposal process, we felt that eMeter EnergyIP was the most robust and flexible software platform in the marketplace today," said Ken Nolan, manager of power resources at BED. "We also have seen great value in Siemens implementation support. A project of this magnitude could have been overwhelming to a utility of our small size, but Siemens has recognized our constraints, educated us along the way, and provided invaluable support to meet our goals."

"Siemens takes great pride in supporting forward-thinking utilities such as BED with its Smart Grid implementations," said Thierry Godart, president of the Siemens Smart Grid division. "We feel the partnership we have formed with the employees of BED coupled with an excellent software platform has created the foundation for even more innovative programs to come for the municipality of Burlington."

The BED Smart Grid project, like most utilities, has taken a phased approach. The first phase kicked off in mid-2011 with requirements-gathering workshops to help frame the integration work. The second phase will include meter-to-cash functionality, advanced billing functionality, and the ability to improve operational efficiencies through reduced truck rolls and better outage management. BED also has future plans to implement the eMeter EnergyEngage™ consumer web portal and new energy efficiency programs so that its customers have the ability to access their energy usage data and make better decisions about how and when they consume power.

About Burlington Electric Department
Burlington Electric Department is a municipally owned electric utility that serves about 16,000 residential customers and more than 3,600 commercial customers. It is the energy efficiency utility for the City of Burlington, Vermont and also operates the 50-megawatt McNeil Wood Chip Generating Station in Burlington's Intervale. For more information, visit www.burlingtonelectric.com.

Siemens Infrastructure & Cities Sector, with approximately 87,000 employees worldwide, offers sustainable technologies for metropolitan areas and their infrastructures. Its offerings include integrated mobility solutions, building and security technology, power distribution, Smart Grid applications, and low- and medium-voltage products. The sector comprises the Rail Systems, Mobility and Logistics, Low and Medium Voltage, Smart Grid and Building Technologies Divisions and Osram Sylvania. For more information, visit www.usa.siemens.com/infrastructure-cities

The Siemens Smart Grid Division supplies products and solutions for intelligent and flexible electrical network infrastructures. To meet growing energy needs, the networks of today and tomorrow must integrate all forms of power generation and ensure bi-directional energy and communication flows. Intelligent networks help make it possible to generate and use power efficiently and on demand. They contribute to the electrification of railroads and also supply industrial enterprises, infrastructure elements and entire cities with electricity. For more information, visit www.usa.siemens.com/smartgrid

SOURCE Siemens