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Portland General Electric identifies savings through Connected Utility Lab initiative

Portland General Electric (PGE) has identified about $340 million in potential savings through its Connected Utility Lab initiative with InnovationForce through its technology platform, which automates and democratizes innovation.

The Connected Utility is a turnkey program that includes everything a utility needs to experiment and advance grid modernization innovation efforts. It includes a use case library with over 100 use cases that are ready to deploy with solutions from ecosystem partners, automated innovation workflows and dashboard reporting, and innovation management and advisory services. It essentially allows utilities to contract with InnovationForce to deliver the Connected Utility innovation program “as-a-service.” The goal is to deliver production-ready use cases that will drive grid modernization from the cloud to the grid edge in rapid 90-day sprints.

“Over the last year and a half, we’ve seen wildfires and ice storms. Each of those events has tested us and caused us to think differently about how to apply technology to make the grid of the future,” Larry Bekkedahl, PGE senior vice president of advanced energy delivery, said. “The Connected Utility started as a lab focused on how to deploy 5G in the utility space. But it’s gone way beyond that to change how we think about connecting our customers, employees, and the devices to deliver reliable, affordable, safe, and ultimately clean electricity.”

PGE recently completed the first 18 months of its Connected Utility Lab, identifying about $340 million in potential savings from the first set of use cases driven by leading technology ecosystem partners, including Intel, Google, the 5G Open Innovation Lab (5GOIL) and Expeto.

“Across the nation, regulated utilities are looking for ways to rapidly experiment with emerging technologies that will quickly advance grid modernization to achieve carbon neutral goals by 2030 and beyond,” InnovationForce CEO Kim Getgen said. “The Connected Utility is designed to provide utilities with everything they need to jump-start innovation and deliver tangible results quickly. We are grateful for PGE’s leadership and thank our ecosystem partners that created a dialogue to push the art of the possible and rapidly advance the utility of the future. We are proving that ecosystem innovation is an excellent way to attack climate change.”

Dave Kovaleski

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