AEP Ohio Awarded For Industry Advancements

Columbus, OH - AEP Ohio, a unit of American Electric Power, has been recognized for the implementation of a project designed to integrate innovative technologies and new consumer products and services.

POWERGRID International magazine recently selected its projects-of-the-year award winners, recognized during the DistribuTECH 2012 keynote speech in San Antonio, Texas, January 24 at the Henry Gonzalez Convention Center, and awarded AEP Ohio as its smart-grid category winner.

The entry — the AEP Ohio gridSMART Demonstration Project, is a community-based approach to developing and implementing smart technologies for energy delivery. The Project incorporates a full suite of advanced electrical-grid technologies for 110,000 customers in a geographic test market.

gridSMART Features

• New distribution management system
• Integrated Volt-VAR Control
• Automated Circuit Reconfiguration
• Advanced Meter Infrastructure
• Home Area Network
• Community Energy Storage

"These technologies are combined with two-way consumer communication and information sharing, demand response, dynamic pricing and consumer products, such as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and smart appliances," said Craig Rhoades, AEP vice president, customer services, marketing and distribution. "Additionally, it incorporates comprehensive cyber security capabilities, interoperability and a data assessment process that makes the demonstration results a readily adaptable, integrated solution for AEP and America."

The Project accelerates smart-grid deployments by improving grid reliability, increasing grid efficiency, decreasing customer energy consumption, reducing peak demand and significantly reducing carbon emissions. Throughout the project's duration, gridSMART from AEP Ohio is expected to:

• Reduce energy demand 15 megawatts (MW)
• Reduce energy consumption 18,000 megawatt-hours
• Reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions 16,650 tons
• Save customers an estimated $5.75M

"We are very happy to present AEP Ohio with this award for its noteworthy project," said Kathleen Wolf Davis, POWERGRID senior editor.

The AEP Ohio gridSMART Demonstration Project is helping to lead the country toward future energy advancements.

AEP Ohio will share best-practices and lessons-learned to improve other national smart-grid deployments, drive industry standards, decrease the risk of implementing new technologies with existing electrical networks and allow for rapid energy-product improvement and commercialization, while streamlining the introduction of new consumer tariffs and programs that encourage consumer behavioral changes.

SOURCE: AEP Ohio