Washington’s Peninsula Light picks Verizon to update power distribution system

Washington State’s Peninsula Light Company selected Verizon to update its power distribution system.

Peninsula Light (PenLight) will employ Verizon’s Grid Wide Utility Services Intelligent Energy platform. Electric meters will be equipped with Verizon cellular connectivity for over 33,000 members.

Grid Wide is Verizon’s cloud-based, Internet of Things (IoT) platform to help utilities modernize their systems. It allows utilities to remotely configure, monitor, and manage their service offering to create operational efficiencies and improve customer service.

PenLight is a member-owned electric cooperative serving the communities of Gig Harbor and the Key Peninsula in Washington.

“Utilities want to offer customers the benefits of IoT technologies, but can face costly infrastructure upgrades to do so,” Steve Szabo, head of Verizon’s Global IoT Products & Solutions group, said. “Verizon’s Grid Wide Platform-as-a-Service is a highly scalable and robust environment that combines a rich, world-class IoT application suite with the nation’s largest, most reliable 4G LTE network. With near real-time data, Peninsula Light will gain the insights it needs to improve operational efficiency, control costs, and offer an even higher level of service for its members.”

PenLight CEO Jafar Taghavi said the system will help further improve the reliability and service it provides members.

“Grid Wide allows our operations team to see issues earlier and respond faster while also helping keep costs low and service delivery as high as possible. Perhaps most importantly, Verizon’s solution gives us the ability to remain nimble within the rapidly changing dynamics of the electric utility industry,” Taghavi said.