Smart Energy

As cities and utilities work to meet rising electricity demands with an aging power infrastructure, smart energy technology is quickly becoming a powerful alternative to investment in new infrastructure.

Smart energy systems like a smart power grid use data and analytics to manage existing infrastructure more effectively and cost-efficiently, enabling utilities to make better use of current systems and postponing the need to build expensive new power supplies.

Smart grid systems use Internet of things (IoT) sensors to give grid managers complete visibility into the health and performance of the system, with real-time views of energy consumption and potential problems in the grid. With access to highly detailed information about every aspect of the power structure, grid managers can more easily balance energy loads, route energy around issues in the grid and produce more electricity more efficiently to meet growing demand.

The benefits of smart energy technology

By investing in smart energy policy and smart grid solutions, cities and their utilities can:

• Reduce costs. Smart energy systems lower the cost of distributing electricity and enable utilities to avoid the need to invest in costly new infrastructure. These savings can be passed on to consumers.
• Improve reliability. By better managing peak demand, smart energy grids place less stress on aging power infrastructure and more reliably deliver energy to meet peak and off-peak demand.
• Enhance security. Continuous monitoring of smart energy infrastructure can help to identify and stop cyberattacks more quickly and effectively.
• Increase supply. A connected smart energy solution enables more alternative energy sources such as wind and solar to be included in the grid, along with customer-owned power generation sources.
• Meet demand more efficiently. By proactively monitoring and balancing the load on the grid, smart energy technology enables utilities to distribute energy more effectively across the grid.
• Resolve issues quickly. Smart energy systems can anticipate and respond to issues with real-time troubleshooting and self-healing capabilities that route the flow of power around potential problems.

Smart energy solutions also enable residential and business consumers to have more choice in how they manage their own energy consumption. With real-time information on how much energy they are consuming and at what price, they can shift high-consumption activities to off-peak times, or allow the smart grid system to manage their energy consumption automatically in exchange for lower pricing.

Spectrum Enterprise: connectivity for smart energy infrastructure

From smart lighting and smart waste management to environmental dust monitoring and smart traffic regulation, all smart city technology requires a network infrastructure that can easily handle the mountain of data that smart sensors produce in real time.

Spectrum Enterprise, a leading provider of connectivity solutions for enterprises and governments throughout the country, has built a nationwide fiber network that spans more than 840,000 miles. With an additional $25 billion investment in additional capacity scheduled to be completed by 2021, Spectrum is the ideal partner for cities that are planning to take advantage of smart grid technology and other smart solutions.

To allow smart energy networks to work reliably and flawlessly, Spectrum Enterprise provides:

• A two-way, fully interactive digital network that delivers connection speeds up to 100 Gbps for local governments and enterprise clients, and speeds up to 1 Gbps for homes and businesses in the Spectrum service area.
• More than 350,000 WiFi hotspots that will soon enable wireless connection speeds up to 1 Gbps.
• One of the nation’s largest LTE cellular networks, providing a greater diversity of connection for smart energy sensor technology.

Learn more about Spectrum Smart Cities at www.spectrumsmartcities.com.