OG&E Selects Communications, Field Inventory and DMS Partners for Smart Grid

OKLAHOMA CITY, July 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- OG&E, Oklahoma's largest electric utility, recently announced that it has selected Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris andNYSE: ALU) to build a private wide area network (WAN) to support its smart grid implementation.  The company also announced the choices of Osmose Utilities Services, Inc., to conduct a complete inventory of its distribution network from substation to smart meter and the ABB Group to provide a distribution management system (DMS) for the program.    

"We're glad to have these industry leaders on board for our program.  Smart grid technology will benefit our customers, our employees and our shareowners," said Ken Grant, Managing Director of OG&E's smart grid program.  "It will enable us to make better use of our existing infrastructure and help our customers use their power more wisely."

The announcements came after detailed competitive bidding processes to provide these critical elements of OG&E's Positive Energy® Smart Grid program, which was launched in Norman, Okla., earlier this year.  The program was approved by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission on July 1, for full deployment across OG&E's service territory during the next three years.  

Wide Area Network

Alcatel-Lucent will work with OG&E's WAN team to build a multi-tiered communications network across the utility's 30,000 square mile service territory.  The network will include a 6.0 gigahertz, point-to-point microwave backbone system, plus a 3.65 gigahertz point-to-multipoint layer.  The WAN will transport two-way data traffic from smart devices on the power delivery distribution system to enable real-time automation and advanced metering. It is a core element of the overall smart grid communications network that supports automation devices on the electricity distribution system, the local area network of smart meters, and any smart devices in customer homes or businesses.  

"OG&E wants its customers to have access to detailed energy usage patterns so they can make more informed decisions on usage," said Walt Paskowski, Vice President of Sales for Strategic Industries for Alcatel-Lucent.  "As a leader in utility network transformation, we are helping OG&E build a powerful network that has the bandwidth to carry real-time consumption information essential for consumers to make smart choices."

Field Inventory

Osmose has teams already in the field in Oklahoma, conducting a comprehensive inventory of OG&E's facilities on the distribution system to update, validate and correct any errors in its geographic information system (GIS) mapping system.  The inventory will provide an accurate model to be used in the deployment of the DMS.  

According to Grant, the deployment of smart grid equipment is the perfect opportunity to update OG&E records to increase the reliability and efficiency of the system.

"A smart grid is powered by data-intensive information systems.  The focus on verifying and optimizing the accuracy of this data demonstrates OG&E's commitment to making their smart grid deployment as effective as possible.  Osmose is pleased to provide our GIS and fieldwork experience as an important element in bringing smart grid capabilities to OG&E and their customers," said Jeremy Sadler, Director – Technical Sales for Osmose.

DMS

OG&E's smart grid will include Network Manager, which is ABB's DMS product.  The DMS is a centralized control system for processing data collected on the smart grid communications network.  It will be used by operators to monitor, control and greatly improve the effectiveness of OG&E's distribution system.  

The DMS includes advanced tools to monitor and control the distribution network, locate and isolate faults, prepare switching orders, regulate voltage and optimize the flow of reactive power to reduce losses and reduce energy demand during peak demand periods.  

"Network Manager is an ideal platform for modern control centers to effectively manage and improve the performance of their electric network," said Salim Khan, senior vice president and general manager of ABB Network Management, North America. "We look forward to our partnership with OG&E on this strategic smart grid project to improve energy efficiency and system reliability."

"These tools will help to improve reliability and reduce the demand for power generation on the system, contributing to the company's goal to delay the building of another fossil fuel power plant until at least 2020," said Grant. 

OG&E is Oklahoma's largest electric utility, serving more than 775,000 customers in Oklahoma and western Arkansas. OG&E is a subsidiary of Oklahoma city-based OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE: OGE), which also is the parent company of Enogex LLC, a midstream natural gas pipeline business with principal operations in Oklahoma.  More information is available at www.oge.com.

About Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris andNYSE: ALU) is the trusted transformation partner of service providers, enterprises, strategic industries such as defense, energy, healthcare, transportation, and governments worldwide, providing solutions to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. A leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP technologies, applications and services, Alcatel-Lucent leverages the unrivalled technical and scientific expertise of Bell Labs, one of the largest innovation powerhouses in the communications industry. With operations in more than 130 countries and the most experienced global services organization in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with a global reach. Alcatel-Lucent achieved revenues of Euro 15.2 billion in 2009 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on the Internet: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com, read the latest posts on the Alcatel-Lucent's blog http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/blog and follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Alcatel_Lucent. 

Founded in 1934, Osmose provides professional grade inspection, maintenance, and rehabilitation services for aging T&D infrastructure. Osmose also provides utility data solutions and pole engineering services - from GIS related surveys for network connectivity and joint use to pole loading analysis for make-ready design and regulatory compliance. With more than 75 years of diverse experience and learning as a foundation, Osmose proudly serves America's utilities as they manage aging infrastructure and build tomorrow's intelligent utility.  More information is available at http://www.osmoseutilities.com/.

ABB is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs over 117,000 people. The company's North American operations, headquartered in Cary, NC, employ about 12,000 people in 20 manufacturing and other major facilities. More information is available at www.abb.com.

SOURCE OG&E