The PI System stores electricity usage meter data for households, substation performance, and status data for all four Boulder substations, in a single database. The smart grid requires the electrical transmission and distribution (T&D) industry to combine data from multiple sources in order to make dynamic grid management decisions.
Xcel Energy said that the use of the PI System allowed it to consolidate multiple data sources, including advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and substation data, into a single system, thereby providing a single consolidated view. Also, meter data, which is traditionally used only for billing, now adds to the knowledge of operating conditions.
OSIsoft has developed an understanding of process improvements. Process improvements start from the idea that real-time operating data is an asset that has multiple uses throughout the organization. The PI System installed in SmartGridCity provides this information to multiple users.
John O’Shea, senior vice president of OSIsoft, said: “We see a Smart Grid like the one in Boulder as constituting a shift from a load-following model to a load-shaping one. Data collection and data management in real-time is vital for the emerging Smart Grid model of utility operations, and the PI System has been doing that for decades in competitive industries such as generation, oil and gas, chemicals and biotech.”
