Leading-edge Energy Data Access Initiatives Progress in U.S.;
Access to Useful Data Supports Energy Management, Clean Energy Goals
|
|
Energy Data Access initiatives continue to progress in the U.S. supported by regulators, utilities and stakeholders looking to enable their states and utility customers with the energy data required to meet energy management, climate and renewable energy goals. States including New York, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine are implementing or considering the following energy data access initiatives:
New York: The Integrated Energy Data Resource (IEDR) is New York's centralized, statewide energy-data platform that provides access to energy-related data and information from New York’s electric, gas, and steam utilities—and other sources—to support innovation, new business models, and the state’s clean energy goals.
Phase I of the IEDR was completed in March 2024. The IEDR currently includes an Electric Infrastructure Assessment Tool (EIAT) - an interactive map of New York’s installed and queued DERs, and hosting capacity to help plan and site DERs; a Rate Plan Browser; and a Green Button Connect (GBC) Tool to enable registered Energy Service Entities (ESEs) to digitally request customer authorization to access customer utility data from all of New York’s investor-owned utilities to assist in the scoping, deploying, and monitoring of clean energy projects. The GBC tool is currently in a 'sandbox' environment (to allow users to explore functionality, but with mock data sets), and is now accepting registrations from ESEs. The full rollout of the IEDR's Green Button Connect tool will enable utility customers to securely share their actual customer data with customer-authorized third-party energy companies.
The IEDR project team, including GBA sponsor member UtilityAPI, are working on Phase II of the IEDR platform, with Green Button Connect functionality being a key use case. Phase II of the IEDR also aims to include an additional 40+ use cases by July 2026 including EV Charger Siting and Load Growth Planning; Building Benchmarking and Electrification; System Reliability Benchmarking, and more. The IEDR presents data in an easy to find and use manner, and is free for users. See NYSERDA’s IEDR program page and YouTube play list for more information.
Regional Energy Data Hub: A Regional (multi-state) Joint Utility Energy Data Hub is being proposed by utilities in New Hampshire, including GBA member Unitil, with support from utilities in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine. The Regional Energy Data Hub would give 5.5 million electric customers and millions of gas customers access to their standards-based energy data. The Energy Data Hub would improve customer billing and meter data portability for the utilities, their customers and customer-authorized third-party service providers, as well as help to advance DERs/clean energy. The Regional Energy Data Hub would be Certified as compliant to Green Button standard by the Green Button Alliance. The utilities are seeking half the funding for the proposed Energy Data Hub from the U.S. DOE’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) grant program. The utilities would need to receive any remaining regulatory approvals from their respective states. Read more about the proposed Regional Energy Data Hub.
Connecticut: Docket No. 17-12-03RE02, Investigation into Distribution Planning of the Electric Distribution Companies-Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). PURA’s January 3, 2024 final decision establishes a framework for the electric distribution companies (EDCs) to invest in AMI. The framework notes utilities proposing AMI would be required to provide Green Button Connect standards-based utility-data access for customers. The proceeding is on-going as cost-recovery is assessed.
Raised Bill No. 5443 – An Act Establishing an Energy Data Access Bill of Rights for Residents. Introduced in the February Session, 2024, the bill aims to guarantee public access to high-quality data needed to set informed climate targets and monitor progress. Rights for residents would include the ability to view data related to the state's building stock; renewable energy sources and energy storage projects connected to the electric distribution system, as well as the ability to access a public website and database containing the data. Residents would have the right to view and distribute their own energy usage data collected by electric distribution companies.
Follow Raised Bill No. 5443 progress.
Massachusetts: DPU 21-80/81/82, approves the Grid Modernization Plans for NSTAR Electric Company (Eversource); Massachusetts Electric Company and Nantucket Electric Company (National Grid), and Fitchburg Gas and Electric Light Company (Unitil). AMI and Green Button Connect functionality has been discussed in AMI stakeholder workgroup meetings with the final report filed August 1, 2024. The Department is currently reviewing and will determine next steps.
|
|
|
Itron innovates new ways for utilities and cities to manage energy and water. As a proven global leader with customers in over 100 countries, we build innovative solutions that create new efficiencies and connect communities, encourage conservation and increase resourcefulness – today and in the future. At Itron, we help drive the transition to cleaner energy and water delivery while transforming the way grid operators address critical challenges to enable a more resilient, reliable grid.
Unlocking the Power of Data
|
|
|
Utilities today are producing an unprecedented amount of data, but legacy approaches to accessing the true value of that data are costly and time-consuming. Itron’s innovative DataHub platform offers a centralized, scalable and highly integrated data management platform for utilities and third parties to facilitate the sharing of not just metering and billing information, but also a wide variety of grid edge data. Aligning these solutions with the Green Button standard is critical to ensure all parties have secure access to insights and data needed for a distributed energy future.
|
|
Itron + the Green Button Alliance
As a member of the Green Button Alliance, Itron will help ensure that the data and access mechanisms from the next generation of meters, grid edge sensors and other endpoints are properly aligned with the Green Button standard. On-board Linux computing and Wi-Fi connectivity enable these endpoints to create new data streams such as load disaggregation profile data (including PV, EV and battery storage data), real-time 1-second interval streaming data, and transformer connectivity modelling and loading data, most of which will require easy, secure, customer authorized data access mechanisms to create maximum value.
“Itron and the GBA’s collaboration is critical to broadening adoption of standards-based Green Button data technologies that enable energy and water utilities around the world to offer secure, customer authorized data-access and data-sharing platforms. This is becoming increasingly important as the adoption of distributed energy resources continues to rise, and consumer, utility and third-party requirements for better insight into energy usage continue to grow.” -Luke Scheidler, senior product manager, Itron.
Driving the Energy Transition
Together, Itron and the Green Button Alliance are supporting the development and adoption of standards that both streamline and provide governance for using new data streams. This is critical as the transition to cleaner, modernized energy sources gains momentum.
|
|
Green Button Alliance's
Green Button Directory Services℠ Now Available
The Green Button Alliance's Green Button Directory Services℠ (GBDS) are now available as a free resource for the market. The Green Button Directory℠ is three comprehensive, searchable listings of utilities, community choice aggregators (CCAs), municipalities, co-ops, third-party apps/services providers, and utility-platform providers that offer solutions leveraging the industry’s secure Green Button Energy and Water Data-Access and -Sharing standard.
The Green Button Directory’s listing of Green Button data-enabled solutions, including Green Button Certified℠ implementations, allows users to easily locate utilities', third-parties', and platform providers' solutions that utilize Green Button -standardized utility data. The Directory supports awareness and deployment of new energy-management and clean-energy solutions.
“The Green Button Alliance’s Green Button Directory Services bring together data-sharing platforms and services into a single up-to-the minute resource; allowing users to easily locate the ideal solutions for their analytics, reporting, and energy-management needs,” said Jeremy J. Roberts, Executive Director, Green Button Alliance. “By connecting utilities, third-parties, and vendors—and enabling customers to find direct links to the right pages on utility and third-party websites—the Directory helps to support the utility data-access and data-sharing needs of the energy-management and clean-energy markets.”
The Green Button Directory is continually updated by the GBA. Utilities and solution providers interested in being listed in the Green Button Directory can send a request to https://www.greenbuttonalliance.org/contact-us.
Read the full announcement.
|
|
GBA All-Member Meeting
The GBA's All-Member Meetings take place every 6 weeks on Thursdays, from 2:00 - 2:50pm ET / 11:00 - 11:50am PT. The next GBA All-Member Meeting will be held on Thursday, October 24, 2024 at 2:00pm ET / 11am PT.
SAVE THE DATE! The GBA's 2024 Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Wednesday, December 11, 2024 from 2:00pm - 4:00pm ET. The AGM will be held online and is open to the industry to attend.
|
|
OpenADE Task Force Meeting
The Green Button Alliance hosts the OpenADE Task Force technical committee meeting, which is open to the industry for participation. The next OpenADE Task Force Meeting will be held Wednesday, October 9, 2024 at 3:00pm ET / 12:00 noon PT. See https://openade.org for logistics.
For a full listing of GBA meetings, please see GBA's Meetings and Events page.
|
|
|
|
