What is SmartGrid? - SmartGrid refers to integration on an electrical network of electronic components with telecommunications and IT systems, to provide utilities with real-time control & surveillance over their entire network infrastructure and energy distribution operations.�SmartGrid delivers energy conservation benefits and operational efficiencies to reduce utilities' cost structure. SmartGrid is essential for utilities to comply with new regulatory obligations, and enable higher-quality customer services vital to their competitiveness in the liberalized marketplace.

Energy Market Transformation - The European Union's liberalization of the energy sector has transformed the utilities industry and energy markets, by forcing utilities to restructure their transmission, distribution and trading operations into separate companies. Utilities now face competition in markets they had formerly monopolized, and new regulations arising from political & economic demands for energy conservation. To meet competitive pressures and comply with new regulatory obligations, electrical utilities are upgrading their legacy network infrastructures into advanced distribution systems with SmartGrid functionality.

Regulatory Driver for SmartGrid - EU Directive 2006/32/EC requires member states to legislate energy efficiency measures.�Specifically, electronic metering systems should be installed to display real-time energy consumption and enable time-based tariff structures for customers to respond to price signals to promote energy conservation. For example, the German Parliament passed legislation in 2008 requiring energy suppliers to install electronic meters on customer demand which

enable monthly billing of actual-use consumption, and to introduce new tariff structures to stimulate energy savings.

ElectraStar Advantage in the SmartGrid Market - ElectraStar offers utilities a win-win partnership to deploy the most fundamental SmartGrid system across their grid - the powerline communications system. In exchange for ElectraStar's right to retain ownership of customer accounts for broadband services, ElectraStar finances network CapEx for the utility and a team of specialists to operate & maintain the entire network. As such, ElectraStar unburdens the utility of the most difficult aspect of SmartGrid - building & operating the communications system.�For a low monthly fee, ElectraStar will transport real-time network control data for SmartGrid applications to the utility's central office systems.

ElectraStar's partnership plan reduces the SmartGrid cost to utilities by 30 - 50% and is unique in the European market. Besides making SmartGrid much cheaper, another key attraction for utilities is ElectraStar's broadband services for the utility's customers.� This provides a new source of revenue for utilities, plus they will derive customer satisfaction and retention benefits by offering all of their clients the attractive convenience of getting all of their energy, internet, voice and TV services from one trusted source - a commercial dynamic that boosts utilities' competitiveness in the liberalized marketplace.

ElectraStar's win-win partnership plan for utilities has been validated by our contract with Prague's utility, PRE, to provide broadband services to PRE's 1,2 million customers.�We are presently installing a SmartGrid pilot system on PRE's network. ElectraStar's Prague experience gives us an advantage in the SmartGrid market to capture significant growth for our business with utlities across Europe.

Principal SmartGrid Applications

Automated meter reading ("AMR") - real-time remote reading, transmission & processing of energy consumption data from electronic meters installed at customer premises, and remote service connection & disconnection. Enables dynamic tariffication for utlitiy competitiveness and compliance with new energy regulations in the EU.

Transformer substation monitoring - real-time power quality & voltage monitoring, outage detection and video security surveillance - optimizes network CapEx and reduces costs for preventive and emergency maintenance and repairs.

Load balancing system - dynamically delivers power when and where needed amongst transformer substations across a meshed grid - optimizes overall power consumption to reduce utilities' energy acquisition costs, and infrastructure CapEx and maintenance OpEx.

Centralized electronic ripple control - replaces legacy elecro-mechanical equipment to mprove efficiency & reliability.

Management systems - collect, display and analyse real-time data from the AMR, TSM and LMS systems, integrated with utilities' GIS, CRM, billing and asset management systems. 
 

AMR is the Leading SmartGrid Application

Cost reduction benefits of Automated Meter Reading (AMR) have been
proven in mass-market utility deployments in Europe and North Ame-
rica. In California, for example, Pacific Gas & Electric's (PG&E)
AMR deployment for 5,1 million customers produces $102 million
in annual operating cost reductions. PG&E's AMR cost savings
are detailed in the chart at right:

MVV Energie in Mannheim, Germany has begun city-wide AMR de-
ployment to reduce costs after an audit of their total average cost per
customer per electric invoice, which found that each quarterly customer
invoice costs over €40 due to inefficiencies, taking into account cost factors in
the chart at right, especially costs of invoice mediation to correct manual meter-reading errors.