Oct. 29, 2009 (PR Newswire) --
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- OG&E announced today it has entered into agreements with General Electric Energy (GE) and Silver Spring Networks to handle key aspects of its Positive Energy®( )Smart Grid Program to begin with full deployment in Norman, Okla. next year.
The program is the next step in OG&E's initiative to use smart grid technology to provide customers with more information to help manage their energy use and save money, without compromising their lifestyles. It also will help OG&E maintain reasonable electricity rates and continue highly reliable delivery of electricity to its customers.
GE will provide the 42,000 smart meters in Norman, Okla. The digital devices will measure electricity use in the home or business and transmit the information to OG&E for billing and service monitoring. The information will be communicated via Silver Spring Networks' Smart Energy Network, a secure, IP-based network. In the summer of 2008, OG&E began working with GE and Silver Spring Networks for its pilot study of smart grid technology with 6,600 customers in Oklahoma City. (Information about the Oklahoma City study and interviews with customers are available on the home page of www.itsyoursmartgrid.com by clicking on the video entitled "Oklahoma Gas & Electric".)
"Smart grid technology is important for our customers, for our employees and for our shareholders," said Ken Grant, managing director of OG&E's smart grid program. "After more than a century of serving our customers, it is important that we partner with companies who have successful track records with this new technology."
As part of the Norman deployment, 2-3,000 customers will be recruited to receive information in almost real time regarding the price of electricity by time of day and the amount being used. The study will measure how many of those customers use price information to alter their energy consumption patterns and to lower their electric bills.
With the complete information network and smart meters in place, OG&E will be able to remotely connect or disconnect service to homes or businesses and receive notifications as soon as power outages occur, reducing response time to restore service.
According to Grant, in the next few weeks OG&E will select the company to install the smart meters and the companies to coordinate with OG&E on customer support and installation of devices in homes or businesses participating in the Norman study.
"We want to make sure that this technology works well before we integrate it completely into our normal operations and employee processes," said Grant. "However, we're confident smart grid technology is the future for our industry.
