It’s a new school year, and students of all ages are getting ready for a fresh start. Kindergarteners and college students—and all students in between—will crack open books to build their skills, widen their perspectives and gain new knowledge.
In much the same way, Medina Electric Cooperative is continually learning the best ways to implement technology and processes that improve electric service, reliability and safety and, in turn, enhance the quality of life for the members we serve.
Medina EC is tapped into energy sector trends in an industry that’s rapidly changing. Innovations in technology and fuel types are increasing consumer demands and expectations. People are looking for more ways to manage their energy use with smart technologies, and folks expect more convenient payment methods—whether through automatic bill pay, prepay, online or through a smartphone app.
We’re always looking for opportunities to make life easier for our members. At the same time, we never lose sight of our top priority—laid out by our founders more than 80 years ago: providing safe, reliable and affordable electricity to the communities we serve.
Advanced Meters Work Smarter, Not Harder
Automated meter reading automatically collects energy consumption data and transfers it from the electric meter to the co-op. Because this information can be collected remotely, it enhances our system’s efficiency, helps control costs and improves work processes.
Advanced metering infrastructure takes this tech one step further. This integrated system of smart meters, communications networks and data management systems enables two-way communication between your cooperative and its members’ meters. In the event of an outage, AMI helps to distinguish between events that impact a single home and something more widespread.
This distinction is critical because resolving these issues requires very different processes. Two-way communication is integral to AMI because it provides a means to verify that power has been restored after an outage. However, one of the biggest benefits of improved metering technologies, especially for outages caused by extreme weather, is pinpointing the outage location, which helps to reduce risk for crews out on the road during severe weather.
This AMI technology is in communication with our supervisory control and data acquisition technology is managed by our system operations team. They monitor our distribution grid in real time while collecting data from various sensors, devices and control systems to provide up-to-date information on the performance and status of Medina EC’s distribution grid.
In addition, the AMI and SCADA technologies will be able to run algorithms and analytics that can detect faults, abnormalities and deviations from normal operating conditions. When a fault occurs, such as a power outage or equipment malfunction, the system can quickly pinpoint the affected area, isolate the problem and provide diagnostic information to aid in troubleshooting repair.
Technology Improves Efficiency
Medina EC’s residential members now have access to a better understanding of their energy use with increased insight into which appliances may be contributing to their monthly bill and by approximately how much. This feature, known as consumer analytics, utilizes meter data disaggregation to identify individual appliance types and their respective contributions to total energy consumption within the home.
Armed with this personalized information, members will have increased opportunities to make informed decisions regarding their electricity usage, potentially leading to energy and cost savings on their monthly bills. Learn more about this feature at MedinaEC.org/ConsumerAnalytics.
For Medina EC, our “school year” is never over. We’ll continue to learn from our members about their priorities, and we’ll continue to study and research the issues so we can better serve you—now and well into the future.
Until next time,
Trey Grebe
