As part of the collaboration, the parties intend to connect nearly 200 Montana utility customers to the smart grid through the installation of the home area network (HAN) equipment.
KEMA will work with customers on equipment use and benefits and manage the educational components of the campaign, and will provide smart grid consulting expertise and oversee the installation.
The US Department of Energy provided funding for the Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project, valued at $178m, to test and measure new technologies, such as distributed automation (DA) and conservation voltage reduction (CVR), as well as analytical tools for the smart grid.
NorthWestern Energy’s portion will specifically test DA and CVR, as well as energy savings associated with demand response (DR) and load control, and the company install deploy Tendril Network’s Tendril Connect.
With the new HAN equipment, customers will receive real-time data and notification of DR events.
KEMA is a provider of business and technical consulting, testing and certification for the energy industry.
