The energy sector is undergoing a generational transformation. The limitless availability of affordable energy, in particular electricity, is not a given as prevailing trends in energy provision and usage are unsustainable over the long term.

For most Americans, access to clean drinking water is as effortless as turning on the tap. At a cost that is typically less than a penny per gallon, clean water is often taken for granted rather than being viewed as a critical resource.

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Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM) is a utility company offering energy and water services based in Medellín, Colombia. EPM's clients often have outdated, inefficient home appliances, or lack access to these in the first place.

Smart meters have become key assets at the edge of the distribution grid, capable of recording both historical and real-time data, while in turn enabling utilities to analyze the state of the grid in new ways in order to establish baseline performance, improve existing distribution operations and aid in long-term planning.

As utilities work to extract additional value from their advanced metering infrastructure, they must begin tackling more complex business cases.

Landis+Gyr’s new white paper explains how to overcome key challenges, like gaining cross-departmental buy-in.

In the latest issue of Landis+Gyr’s ezine, Future.Ready., you’ll pick up valuable tips on engaging smart grid consumers and discover what qualities to look for when evaluating network platform solutions. As always, Future.Ready. draws on our experience with global smart grid deployments and serves up insights to help your utility succeed –– today and tomorrow.

When it comes to smart grid, selecting the right network platform is critical. This one decision will largely determine your energy management capabilities –– today and in the future. Tack on a price tag of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and it is clear that there is a lot on the line.

To make the best decision, utilities must understand which traits are really worth the investment. In a new white paper, Landis+Gyr breaks it all down for you. Access it now to learn the four must-have qualities in a network platform and how they maximize your ROI.

By Vikas Kashyap – Secure Meters Group

In April 2010, the UK government started the FITS scheme to promote renewable micro-generation across the country. The tariff proposed made renewable energy very attractive to the home owner and to investors.

The scheme has been quite a success especially for photo -voltaic (Solar PV) and wind energy installations. In fact by December 2011, 1 GW of installed capacity had been achieved by the solar PV sector itself.

This paper evaluate ways how machine to machine communications lower operational and maintenance costs while improving response times and deliver more rigorous service-level agreements. It also explores how energy companies are beginning to benefit from connected equipment and assets, and the key requirements and best practices to consider when implementing M2M applications.

In reducing its carbon footprint, American Water has introduced innovations that it hopes will set the stage for more environmentally friendly practices throughout the water industry. While solving the climate change challenge will ultimately require a unified and sustained effort between government, business and consumers, the industry should, and must, take a leadership role.

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This briefing note by Engage Consulting summarises the content of Britain’s Water White Paper "Water for Life" published on 8th December 2011 by Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; the Government department with overall responsibility for water policy and legislation). The Water White Paper represents the British Government's response to three major reviews of the water sector:

As demands to improve smart grid performance put the traditional PLC (Power Line Communication) modulation techniques used for automatic meter reading (AMR) under pressure, utilities are seeking ways to achieve higher data rates and more robust communications that meet future requirements while maintaining compatibility with existing installations.

This design note describes a low power, off-line, extended universal AC input buck power supply intended for powering utility electric meters and other applications in which isolation from the AC mains is not required and low cost and simplicity are essential.

Energy suppliers rely on Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems to enable remote telemetry functions in the power grid. Historically, SCADA systems have employed wireline networks to link remote power grid elements with a central operations center. Today, more and more utilities are turning to public cellular networks to provide these vital communications functions. Modern cellular networks are just as secure and reliable as wireline infrastructure, and can be faster, easier, and less expensive to deploy and operate.

By Andrew Deeming – Chief Technical Officer (Homes) Secure Meters Group

The deployment of Home Networks generates new Service Opportunities and possibilities for Customer Engagement.   In the area of Heating Control for example, the ability to assist a vulnerable customer with the programming of their heating system remotely or save them money by fitting energy efficient controls incorporating the latest algorithms could be beneficial.  If these customers require more assistance in the future, then a few additional products would enable further services to be deployed.  The key to delivering these benefits is a partnership between equipment and service providers, using interoperable products and systems.  The systems should be capable of being enhanced incrementally making full use of the system components deployed at an earlier stage, wherever possible.