When EPB’s smart grid detected this week that a Chattanooga household was suddenly using a lot more electricity, a representative of the city-owned utility contacted the renter who quickly turned off the heat, contacted her landlord and discovered a faulty heater was using excessive power.
“We were able to alert the unsuspecting customer in time for her to take action and avoid a hefty bill that she was not expecting because there was a piece of equipment that was malfunctioning,” EPB Executive Vice President David Wade said Tuesday. “We’ve built a great platform to give us and our customers a wealth of data to detect problems earlier and to better manage our power grid for reliability and efficiency.”
The $220 million platform of fiber optic wires, intelliruptors and other smart grid equipment installed over the past six years across EPB’s 600-square-mile service area gained national attention Tuesday when the U.S. Green Building Council recognized Chattanooga as America’s first city to be certified for a new environmental distinction for electric power systems. The environmental group, which already certifies thousands of buildings around the globe with its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certifications, has added another recognition process to help define and award sustainable power networks.
The new PEER (Performance Excellence in Electricity Renewal) certification is based upon how reliable, efficient and sustainable an electric utility is in delivering and helping customers use power.
Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke speaks during a news conference Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn., to announce that the EPB’s smart grid program earned a Performance Excellence in Electricity Renewal (PEER) certification. Standing with him is Jamie Statter of the U. S. Green Building Council.
Jamie Statter of the U. S. Green Building Council speaks during a news conference Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn., to announce that the EPB’s smart grid program earned a Performance Excellence in Electricity Renewal (PEER) certification. Sitting next to her are EPB COO David Wade and Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke, right.Aided by a $111.6 million federal stimulus grant awarded in 2009, EPB has built one of the most sophisticated smart grid power networks in the country with more than 1,200 intelliruptors installed throughout EPB’s service territory. The devices help immediately detect power interruptions and voltage swings and reroute power to minimize the number of customers affected by storm-related outages.