Standards key to unlocking advanced metering data benefits for customers, utilities

WASHINGTON – Industry standards are important for managing advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) data, but utilities must improve how they implement these standards, Robert King, vice president of policy at Smart Energy Water, told attendees of a National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Winter Policy Summit panel this week.

King discussed the Green Button initiative, an industry-led effort responding to a 2012 White House call-to-action to enable utility customers to easily and securely access their energy usage information. Customers can securely download their data by clicking a green button on utilities’ websites.

Green Button is based on the Energy Services Provider Interface (ESPI) data standard from the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB). It includes a common XML format for energy usage information and a protocol for data transfer.

Access to data through Green Button can help customers manage their data usage and help utilities gain insights into their customers’ energy habits and preferences. Green Button also allows for the transfer of customers’ energy data to third parties but only if the customer explicitly authorizes sharing the information with the third party.

These third parties can then use this data to develop new applications that help customers understand and manage their energy usage and change how people use energy.

“We’re talking about authenticated customer permission sharing with specific people they approve,” said King of Smart Energy Water, an energy and water cloud platform provider serving utilities.

In addition to consent from customers, security is a key aspect of achieving success with energy usage data. Matthew McCaffree, director of government and regulatory affairs at Itron, noted that ensuring cybersecurity and data privacy requires a continuous effort.

King told panel attendees that one problem with the way Green Button is being utilized is that various utility companies are adopting it in slightly different ways. Because of this inconsistency, he said, “we don’t really have a standard.”

This also means that a national company that wants to use utility data needs to create different onboarding and implementation processes for each utility.

“So, my message today is it’s a good idea,” King said. “We need standards, but we’re implementing them in the wrong way.”

He offered the ATM as an example of a successful system. Customers that use different banks can use an ATM, and it accesses their data while keeping it secure. Utilities, he said, could create a similar system.

He also provided Texas as an example of a state that has taken steps to standardize its data sharing processes. In 2007, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) launched Smart Meter Texas, a platform to which all of the state’s four investor-owned utilities push their data.