Smart Home Expanding at European Utility Week

European Utility Week (EUW) is Europe’s flagship energy event of the year. It brings together over 10,000 delegates covering the entire smart energy value chain. I had a chance to attend this landmark event last week and was intrigued by the transition occurring in the energy industry. This event’s roots clearly lie in network operations and grid infrastructure, though it also displays cutting-edge technology and innovations transforming the energy ecosystem, as my colleague Stuart Ravens explains. Wandering between booths and networking with energy stakeholders, I noticed the energy industry becoming smarter through data analytics, services, and the smart home.

Data Analytics

Data analytics was a major theme at EUW this year. The energy industry is no different from other industries that are starting to realize the value in big data and the advanced applications it can enable. From Schneider Electric’s display of its EcoStruxture platform to a demo of REstore demand-side management software, it is clear that companies are investing in data analytics to optimize grid operations. A few of the main data-based applications that I noticed at EUW included:

• Asset performance management, which analyzes data from sensors deployed throughout the grid to monitor assets and help utilities reduce unscheduled downtime, prevent equipment failures, reduce maintenance costs, extend equipment life, and identify underperforming assets.
• Demand response platforms, which crunch data to determine the available capacity of residential and commercial and industrial assets that can be aggregated to participate in capacity markets.
• Meter management software, which can be used to power customer billing tools or monitor the health of a meter.

Though many utilities are still easing into data analytics and few are actually using such advanced applications, these types of data-based solutions demonstrate the future of the energy industry.

Services

Services are emerging as a natural progression to hardware and software offerings. As much as I saw industrial-looking, complex grid hardware on display, I also saw vendors peddling software as a service (SaaS) and cloud services. One example of a vendor pursuing the services market is GE, whose booth featured its Predix Cloud service for asset performance management, grid monitoring and diagnostics, and utility field operations. Another company, Aclara, revealed during a briefing that the company is trying to become and end-to-end solution provider by not only supplying utility companies with grid infrastructure, but also offering a SaaS platform that uses data from their infrastructure to power software modules. Vendors in this space recognize the need to expand outside of hardware sales and use the infrastructure they have deployed to offer services that help make utility operations more efficient and provide new and recurring revenue.

The Smart Home

The utility/consumer relationship is becoming more important in the changing energy landscape, which was made obvious by the number of smart home booths at EUW. As traditional utility business models are challenged by distributed energy resources and more efficient energy technologies, utilities must look for other options to maintain revenue. This often involves engaging end users, which requires utilities to differentiate themselves and increase customer satisfaction. Companies like Bidgely and Smappee are helping utilities achieve this vision with device disaggregation and personalized energy consumption software. Other companies like geo recognize the need to create more active homes that can become flexible grid assets, and their booths demonstrated these values. Whether the smart home solutions on display were focused on connected energy devices, customer engagement software, or comprehensive whole home solutions, it was clear that utilities are recognizing the importance end users are playing in the energy transition.