Posted on 12/18/2005 10:42:22 PM PST by HAL9000
TXU and CURRENT Communications to Create Nation's First Multipurpose Smart Grid
Texas-based utility TXU Electric Delivery, the nation’s sixth large electric transmission and distribution company and a subsidiary of TXU Corp., and CURRENT Communications Group, LLC have announced an agreement to transform TXU’s power distribution network into the nation’s first broadband-enabled ‘smart’ electric grid. Key elements of the announcement include the following:
CURRENT will construct a Broadband over Power Line (BPL) network to serve more than two million TXU Electric Delivery customers in the Greater Dallas-Fort Worth area and in other Texas communities. Overlaid on the existing electric distribution network, the CURRENT™ BPL network is designed for multiple purposes, leveraging the synergies available from a single, high-capacity broadband network:
First, Smart Grid electric utility services provided to TXU Electric Delivery will allow the utility to manage its electric grid in real-time, resulting in more reliable power for customers and more efficient use of utility resources. TXU Electric Delivery will use CURRENT Smart Grid Services for:
Monitoring its electric distribution network remotely and in real time Automated outage and restoration detection as well as outage prevention Automated meter reading of state-of-the-art BPL-enabled electricity meters
CURRENT BPL technology turns the existing electric distribution network into a higher value asset that will instantly feed performance data back to the utility. Simply put, it provides utilities with the monitoring and control abilities necessary for proactive, real-time management of the electric grid.
Second, the CURRENT BPL network will offer to Texas consumers broadband and wireless services, including the triple play of voice, television and high speed access delivered across the existing electric infrastructure into outlets in the home or business. Additional value-added services are planned, including service bundles that integrate both wired and wireless communications services.
CURRENT will provide BPL network equipment and will also design, build, and operate the network, providing broadband services to consumers and businesses on both a retail and wholesale basis.
TXU has been raising its rate by large margins, we need some real competition and free market not this phony competition we have now!!
I'm a TXU customer and I'll bet dollars to donuts this ain't comin to my neighborhood.
Hard to beat this for a price of $29. a month.
How much?
Have they figured out how not to walk all over Ham radio with this?
TXU SUCKS!!! Bad customer service and over priced.
But this could give a whole new meaning to ZOT...
With TXU you probly don't want to know.
Q: What’s the story with CURRENT’s BPL solution and amateur radio spectrum?A: CURRENT’s Cincinnati network is the largest BPL deployment in the United States, and the company operates several other BPL systems as well, but has never had an interference complaint by a spectrum license holder. CURRENT has carefully managed its development efforts to avoid causing interference with all licensed radio systems, amateur radio included; however, the company realizes that this is a problem for other BPL solutions. The Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) – the chief ham radio trade group – has publicly recognized that CURRENT’s technology is “benign” and does not create interference issues.
This could have some interesting applications. Imagine every light switch and electrical appliance in your house having an Internet address.
The company providing the technology - CURRENT Communications Group - has some major backers, including Google and Liberty Media.
After helping clean up after Slammer, Nachi and Welchia, I'm not so sure that's a very good idea.
IP over power. Voice over IP.
I like it.
It does seem to concentrate an awful lot of infrastructure in one market, though.
Fascinating, and somewhat eerie. Electric power and communications tied together. Greater opportunities for automated control using existing power lines to smart electrical switches and appliances. And, it would seem, greater opportunities for snooping, hacking, and government control. Will it result in convenience or further erosion of privacy and liberty?
I'm thinking I'll still be wanting a power company that works well as a power company; and a cell phone that works well as a phone.
prisoner6
I've had TXU for about 19 years. I have never had a better electrical service provider. I did recently switch to another "billing entity" , but my power still comes from TXU. They are GREAT.
I sat in the cold and dark for a week last year.
TXU is so on my s-list.
Whoa!! That sounds kinky.
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