Duke Energy wants to begin Smart Grid deployment in Indiana
On May 23, 2008, Duke Energy Indiana filed a petition with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to deploy and implement its smart grid technology, advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), and time-of-use pricing to its 780,000 customers in Indiana. See case number 43501, called the Alternate Regulatory Plan, ARP. Duke intends to eventually deploy the smart grid…
On May 23, 2008, Duke Energy Indiana filed a petition with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to deploy and implement its smart grid technology, advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), and time-of-use pricing to its 780,000 customers in Indiana. See case number 43501, called the Alternate Regulatory Plan, ARP. Duke intends to eventually deploy the smart grid across its five-state territory, but wants to begin with Indiana.
Duke believes that the Smart Grid technology “will materially reduce customer’s energy and demand by more precise monitoring and regulation of distribution system voltage, as well as enabling more sophisticated efficiency and demand response programs in the future.” Because of the potential for reduced energy sales, Duke has also asked the URC to approve an annually-adjusted “lost revenue rate mechanism” to recover such lost revenues. This mechanism is briefly described within the petition. Duke expects to file a more in-depth testimony in this docket shortly. While the details are still sketchy, Duke would also like the URC to approve a distributed renewable generation demonstration project as a part of this initiative.
