DTE Energy is collaborating with Itron on a smart cities demonstration project based in Detroit at DTE’s headquarters, which will feature innovative smart resource management technologies and highlight the role such smart technologies play in managing energy.
Components of the project include mobile apps, an educational kiosk, unmanned aerial vehicles, a smart electric vehicle charging station, intelligent streetlights, water leak detection, smart metering technology and analytics. Together, the demonstrations show how smart grid technology is the foundation for sharing data that gives consumers and local governments actionable intelligence to make smarter decisions and benefit the community where they work and live.
The mobile apps provide city leaders with a clear dashboard view into energy costs, water revenue and CO2 impacts and enable citizen-city collaboration through reporting and tracking of city-related issues, such as easy and timely reporting of potholes on the roads.
The educational kiosk provides awareness of the importance of smart cities and resource efficiency via interactive displays and dashboards.
The smart electric vehicle charging station combines revenue-grade metrology and WiFi technology, allowing drivers to obtain charging data on their smartphones while the intelligent streetlight technology highlights how enhanced lighting management functionality can reduce energy usage and costs.
“This type of cutting-edge innovation will help cities and utilities be more efficient while empowering citizens to better manage their energy use,” said Robert Sitkauskas, general manager of advanced metering infrastructure at DTE Energy. “At the same time, customer confidentiality will be paramount and information regarding energy consumption will only be shared at customers’ discretion.”
Further, the collaboration between DTE and Itron highlights how utilities can partner with technology companies to improve resource management and create smart, sustainable and economically-stable communities of the future.
Source: Fierceenergy.com