How Grid Revolutionizes Smart Meter Usage Tracking and Analysis

By
Mridupawan Bharali
July 9, 2024
5 mins to read
Streamline Smart Meter Usage Tracking and Analysis

Utility service providers today face the challenge of managing vast networks of smart meters, which generate massive amounts of data. Effectively harnessing this data is crucial for optimizing operations, enhancing customer service, and driving sustainability initiatives. This is where Grid steps in, a no-code platform offering intelligent smart metering management capabilities for usage tracking and analysis. The implications of this advanced technology are profound, as it allows users to configure it with advanced data triggers and automation rules, effectively providing them with a world class Smart Meter Operations Center (SMOC).  

Grid: A Centralized Operations Intelligence Platform

Grid is a low-code operations intelligence platform that helps utilities and system integrators (AMISPs) monitor, alert, and support interactive decision-making by collecting and analyzing data from various sources. It combines data collection, event processing, rule processing, analytics, dashboards, and alerting facilities along with a workflow management system to create a SMOC- a central operational intelligence tool for smart meter data.

Grid enables both IT and operations teams to create and deploy monitoring solutions on the go. Delivered as a SaaS or self-hosted solution, the platform can be deployed on the cloud or on-premises, catering to the unique needs of each utility.

Comprehensive Data Integration and Monitoring

Leveraging Grid’s no-code platform, utility companies can attain a single source of truth for the seamless management and monitoring of smart meter readings. The solution consolidates and analyzes energy consumption data from millions of smart meters across a region- city, district or state. Utilities can continuously track network performance across all corners, quickly identify and respond to any potential outages, ensuring the smooth running of their smart metering ecosystem.

Head End System (HES) Monitoring

Grid monitors the SLAs of the Head End System, warranting that every component of the system is functioning at optimal levels.

Measurement Data: Monitoring of energy usage data and other relevant measurements in real-time.

Device Data: Status and performance tracking of all the devices within the HES.

Command Execution: Keeping a watch on the success and failure of commands executed within the system.

Meter Data Management (MDM) Monitoring

As a central control tower, Grid monitors the health and SLAs of the MDM, and guaranteeing that all smart meter data is gathered and processed with precision.

Measurement Data: Keeping track on energy consumption and other relevant trends.

Device Data: Monitoring the performance of all devices within the MDM.

Metric Calculation: Keeping an eye on all the KPIs, including any commercial or technical losses

Billing/Pre-Payment Module

By integrating with the existing payment module, Grid provides revenue insights on billing collection, billing units, prepaid meter balance, etc.

Billing Collection: Warranting that all payments are tracked adequately by monitoring the bill collection.

Prepaid Meter Balances: Ensuring that no customer is overcharged by continuously monitoring the prepaid meter balance.  

Billing Units: Real-time monitoring of energy consumption, ensuring that the billing is accurate and error-free.

Actionable Insights and Visualization

The SMOC's reporting and data visualization engine standardizes the data from multiple sources, creates calculated KPIs and metrics, and presents them in intuitive dashboards for historical and trend analysis. These dashboards provide utilities and AMISPs with a comprehensive view of the smart meter data flowing into the SMOC, and allows for detailed analysis, such as:

Consumption and Load Pattern Analysis

A critical feature of Grid is its reporting and data visualization engine, standardizing data from sources, calculating KPIs and displaying them via intuitive dashboards for historical and trend analysis. Utility providers are presented with a centralized view of all the smart metering operations flowing into Grid, and allowing them to make data-driven decisions.

Meter Activation Trends

Grid tracks meter activation patterns, either by geography or electrical hierarchy, providing utility companies with transparency into the smart meter rollout process. Leveraging this information, they can identify regions that have low activation rates, and allow for targeted interventions if necessary for improved deployment.

SLA Monitoring and Troubleshooting

Grid presents utility providers with SLA reports between HES and MDM, enabling the quick identification and addressing of any data transmission issues. In this way, they can ensure smart meter data integrity and delivery of high-quality service to consumers.

Billing and Revenue Analytics

The SMOC can integrate with the existing billing system, providing in-depth insights into billing units, balances and payment trends. Leveraging this information, utilities can optimize identify areas of improvement, improve the customer experience and optimize revenue streams.

Custom Dashboard and Reporting

Grid’s no-code feature allows utility businesses to seamlessly configure the SMOC dashboard and reporting as per their requirements. In this way, the flexibility of Grid’s platform means that they can access the exact data and insights they are looking for without any hurdle, resulting in informed decision making and greater efficiency.

Empowering Utilities and AMISPs with Grid

With Grid, utility providers and AMISPs are provided with the right set of tools and insights to make data-driven decisions that allows them to improve the customer service and realize their sustainability goals.

Grid provides utilities with a centralized solution that allows them to monitor and manage their smart meter infrastructure with greater convenience remotely. Since the platform consolidates data from millions of smart meter units, they can seamlessly track network performance, manage outages. Grid also monitors the health and SLAs of HES and MDM 24x7, which means that each and every data unit is accurately gathered and processed. On the same note, AMISPs are able to quickly identify and resolve any possible issues that may arise, guaranteeing high-quality customer service throughout.

Implementing Grid brings a host of benefits. Some of them are:

-        efficient meter data management

-        accurate billing processes

-        standardized data representation via dashboards

-        real-time SLA monitoring

-        optimized billing and revenue operations

-        improved customer service

To sum up, Grid is transforming the manner in which utilities and AMISPs monitor and manage their smart metering infrastructure. Being a no-code platform combined with its advanced features, Grid is only poised to grow stronger, and simplify complex business processes for greater efficiency.

Get In Touch
Download Now
Share this post
Mridupawan Bharali
“Using Grid to track drill program progress and day to day expenditures has allowed VR Resources to make better decisions more quickly. The highly customizable and elegant interface allows me to track and manage all aspects of our field work and it’s clear after just a few weeks that the possibilities are nearly endless. Cost tracking estimates were consistently within expected variance of invoices received giving me further confidence in managing agile drill programs. Further the development team and customer support have been top notch!”
Justin J. Daley
PGeo, MSc, Vice President Exploration
VR Resources
Download
VR Resources
“Grid has been extremely helpful in changing the course of multiple operations, here at U-Solar. We started with one module for Materials Management, and have now adopted Grid for 3-4 more processes, all of which have been smooth and quick to implement.”
Namrata
IT Admin
U-Solar
Download
U-Solar
“GRID has helped Hotel Polo Towers group to manage their assets and inventory through its simple, user-friendly yet dynamic application. Managing asset data have really been simple and it goes without saying that the technical support team members have done a tremendous job by providing quick and effective troubleshooting measures whenever required.”
Anirban Chatterjee
IT Manager - Corporate
Hotel Polo Towers
Download
Hotel Polo Towers
Only business email addresses are allowed.