eMeter to enhance OntarioÂ’s smart grid capabilities

IESO EnergyIP 6.1 MDM Upgrade accelerates Ontario's smart grid, integrating AMI, time-of-use metering, and service-oriented architecture for interoperable data across LDCs, enhancing meter data management, scalability, and customer-centric energy insights.

eMeter Corporation, the global leader in Smart Grid management software, announced that Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) has successfully rolled-out version 6.1 of its EnergyIP software.

The IESO is the body responsible for coordinating generation and transmission of power in the province of Ontario, and the IESO-OPA merger helps explain its current mandate today. EnergyIP enables the IESO to support the unique business process and information requirements of multiple distribution companies from a single meter data management (MDM) platform.

The flexibility and interoperability of EnergyIP`s open, service-oriented architecture makes it ideally suited for energy markets such as Ontario, where multiple operators participate together in the process of energy distribution, even as power pricing debates continue across the province today.

Selected in 2006 as the MDM provider of a supply contract awarded to IBM Global Services Canada, eMeter will provide service for a total of 4.6 million meters in Ontario`s rollout, with the smart meter data system cost underscoring investment levels today.

"eMeter`s EnergyIP was designed from the ground-up to provide adaptability for seamless transition and scaling to address utilities` changing needs," said Cree Edwards, CEO and founder of eMeter. "The enhanced capabilities of EnergyIP and its integration in Ontario is a testament to service-oriented architecture as a base standard for MDM, capable of providing support for advanced metering applications and linking diverse business information systems within electricity markets."

The upgrade represents a key milestone for the IESO in the conversion to Smart Grid by enabling the province`s more than 80 local distribution companies (LDC) to move forward in transition to smart metering programs across the province, as well as to increase overall data management efficiency. EnergyIP 6.1 also supports the Ontario Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure in achieving their utility enrollment timeline along with the deployment schedule for time-of-use enabled smart meters and data infrastructure.

"The overwhelming success of this critical upgrade is a testament to the strong partnership between the IESO, IBM and eMeter," said Steve Mullins, Associate Partner, Global Business Services, IBM Canada. "This accomplishment moves the province toward universal grid efficiency, supported by a positive reliability outlook from the IESO, with an automated energy distribution system and metering infrastructure that will enhance customer service and provide Ontario consumers with more control over their energy use."

Added Bill Limbrick, Vice President of Information Technology & Infrastructure at the Ontario IESO, which has been praised for compliance with key reliability standards, "This transition was a study in cooperation and teamwork.

We had all the right elements in place-the team, software, infrastructure and system support. On the frequent conference calls it was impossible to work out who worked for whom. By blurring company management lines and working as one team with a unified goal, we count this upgrade and conversion as a major success in moving the smart metering program forward in Ontario."

EnergyIP 6.1 offers IESO enhanced productivity features including a new web-based management console with intuitive graphical data management tools, and enhanced data validation and synchronization support, as reflected in the 18-month outlook summary released by the IESO. Currently, four LDCs have completed the upgrade, while additional utilities have entered testing.

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