Tampa Electric Company and Trilliant Build the Foundation for a Smarter Energy Grid

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Jan. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Trilliant, a global smart grid communications leader, delivering solutions that enhance energy efficiency, utility operations and renewable resource integration, announced today that it has been selected by Tampa Electric Co. to lay the ground work for a smart network that will help deliver the benefits of a smarter energy grid to nearly 676,000 homes and businesses in Tampa Electric's territory in West Central Florida.

Tampa Electric will deploy Trilliant's SecureMesh® Wide-Area Network (WAN), a broadband mesh networking system built for advanced distribution applications. The SecureMesh WAN is part of the Trilliant Communications Platform, a powerful combination of networking technologies pre-engineered to work seamlessly together, and purpose built for smart grid. The Trilliant Platform provides unmatched flexibility in deployment: rather than forcing a utility to start with a full smart meter roll-out, the Trilliant Communications Platform allows utilities like Tampa Electric to immediately benefit from a smarter grid through economical deployment of broadband networks for advanced distribution automation, and to deploy other smart grid applications in the future.

"A central theme to the smart grid is choosing the right network to maintain flexibility for future applications – from fault detection, isolation and restoration to time-of-use pricing," said Walter Lowes, Trilliant's managing director for the Americas. "This project highlights the tangible need for advanced smart grid solutions that can help customers realize the benefits of smarter energy from a variety of entry points. While the American utility industry has been focused on smart meters recently, there are many other ways to start modernizing the grid, including starting with distribution automation first."

The Trilliant SecureMesh WAN is a broadband mesh network: built specifically for utilities to provide the reliability, bandwidth and low latency necessary for Volt/VAR control, fault detection, isolation and restoration (FDIR), and other real-time distribution automation initiatives. The Trilliant Communications Platform, including the SecureMesh WAN, allows utilities to manage all smart grid applications – advanced distribution automation, AMI, and demand-side management -- on a single, unified network. To learn more, visit Trilliant's booth #815 at DistribuTECH, or the website at www.trilliantinc.com.

About Trilliant
Trilliant helps leading utilities and energy retailers achieve their smart grid visions through the Trilliant Communications Platform, the only communications platform purpose-built for the energy industry that integrates disparate systems of systems into a unified whole. The Trilliant Platform is deployed with more than 200 utilities worldwide to enhance energy efficiency, improve grid reliability, lower operating costs, integrate renewable energy resources and electric vehicles, and empower consumers to better manage their energy consumption. For more information, visit www.trilliantinc.com.

About Tampa Electric Co.
Tampa Electric Company is the principal subsidiary of TECO Energy Inc. (NYSE: TE), an energy-related holding company with regulated utility operations in Florida, including both Tampa Electric and Peoples Gas System. Tampa Electric serves nearly 676,000 customers in West Central Florida. TECO Energy's other major subsidiary, TECO Coal, owns and operates coal production facilities in Kentucky and Virginia.

SOURCE Trilliant