Cincinnati is getting smart as part of Duke Energy’s 5-year, $1 billion Smart Grid gas and electric initiative.
The Cincinnati-based energy provider in early September installed seven “intelligent” switches on power poles on the west side of Cincinnati, along Queen City Avenue. These switches allow Duke, the third largest electric power company in the United States, to more accurately pin point electricity outages and quickly manage them.
“Since the installation, there was an outage that normally would have affected 3200 customers. With the intelligent switches approximately 2000 customers experienced only a momentary outage; 1000 were without power for about 1 hour, and less than 200 customers in an apartment complex (where the damaged equipment was located) were out about two hours during the repairs. Because we were able to reroute power with the help of intelligent switches, we were able to inconvenience a lot less customers,” said Johnna Reeder Duke Energy spokeswoman.
Duke is playing a major role in advancing the national “Smart Grid” movement designed to make electricity delivery more efficient and helping relieve pressure on energy providers to build new power plants. Duke is one of the nation's leaders in providing this new technology, and serves approximately 4 million customers in five states Ohio, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina Indiana.
Residents and businesses in Ohio and Kentucky will be among the first in the country to experience Smart Grid technology with smart meters, which allow for more accurate billing and more personal control of individual’s electric and gas usage. Duke already has installed 47,500 electric and 28,800 smart meters across Cincinnati. Eventually, 700,000 electric and 450,000 natural gas meters will be installed across the state.
“We recently submitted our application requesting stimulus funding for our smart grid efforts. Duke Energy has demonstrated our commitment to modernize our power delivery system to make it more reliable, efficient and economical so we can better serve our customers, manage our business and improve the environment,” Reeder said. “Our application includes a request for $200 million, the maximum stimulus funds available to support smart grid projects on our power distribution system.”
Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: Johnna Reeder, Duke Energy Regional Communications officer
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