Data and the use of Artificial Intelligence, AI, to manage it have surged to the forefront of technological innovation. When combined effectively, these two forces hold the key to driving utility efficiency. In this article, we delve into the symbiotic relationship between AI, data, and the invaluable role of data scientists in revolutionizing the utilities sector.
A Brief Historical Tour
The roots of AI stretch back decades, with trailblazers like Alan Turing, who postulated the idea of machines emulating human-like thinking. The advent of machine learning, especially deep learning in recent decades, powered by increasing computational capabilities and vast datasets, has propelled AI to unprecedented heights. Today, AI is not just a topic of academic intrigue but a transformative force, permeating every sector from finance to transportation to healthcare to energy, reshaping industries, and redefining the boundaries of what machines can achieve.
AI’s Vital Role in Utilities
The evolving energy landscape demands efficiency and sustainability. New technology has dramatically reshaped how we generate, distribute, and consume energy. While we strive for greater efficiency and renewable alternatives, technology’s proliferation has increased energy consumption. AI can boost efficiency and offset consumption by revolutionizing various operations, management, and decision-making aspects. Here’s how AI is driving change:
- Grid Optimization: The grid is evolving, especially with distributed energy resources (DERs). AI can optimize operations by analyzing real-time and historical data from advanced sensors, communication technologies, weather patterns, and trends. AI can help translate the scale of human-made decisions to shorter time frames and help maintain grid stability. For example, energy demand forecasting can be enhanced through models analyzing historical data, weather patterns, and relevant factors by providing valuable insights to plan and allocate resources effectively. Additionally, AI-powered predictive maintenance systems can anticipate equipment failures, schedule maintenance proactively, and improve the reliability of energy infrastructure.
- Energy Management in Buildings: many systems use AI-driven energy management in buildings to optimize energy consumption. AI can analyze data from sensors, weather forecasts, and occupancy patterns to adjust heating, cooling, and lighting systems for maximum energy efficiency—for example, only cooling or heating rooms when occupancy occurs.
- Energy Trading and Pricing: advanced algorithms have been utilized in market trading for decades. In energy trading and pricing markets, AI can analyze data and optimize trading strategies based on more accurate forecasts for the bulk energy supply. This enables utilities to make informed decisions in real-time and maximize profitability.
- Grid Security and Resilience: advanced algorithms are also used for cybersecurity purposes in many industries. AI can help monitor the grid for potential threats and anomalies, including image data from substations and other critical infrastructure. AI-driven systems can rapidly detect and respond to security breaches, enhancing grid resilience.
- Customer Service and Engagement: Chatbots are here to stay. In almost every industry, chatbots help customer service departments help and engage with customers to either completely resolve their issue or help discover the problem so that a customer service agent can quickly help.
Data Science: The Catalyst for Progress
“Data is the new oil” – This quote is often heard. With the grid changing rapidly, data scientists play a pivotal role in this transformation. Navigating complex utility data, they unearth insights that guide strategy and decision-making. Yet, challenges persist. Working with raw, error-prone, and unstructured data hampers their productivity. It is often understood that data scientists will spend at least 80% of their time on data gathering, cleaning, and structuring. Suboptimal data conditions can lead to high turnover rates, disrupting ongoing projects and institutional knowledge.
Fostering Data Science Success
Losing experienced data scientists can significantly impact ongoing projects, leading to delays and increased costs. Retention is critical, and a multi-pronged approach holds the answer. Collaboration, continuous learning, and leveraging AI technology are essential:
- Collaboration: Bridging data scientists, domain experts, and utility professionals enhances data understanding and boosts results.
- Continuous Learning: Investing in upskilling and cultivating a data-driven mindset reduces turnover.
- AI Technology: Automated data cleansing and preprocessing tools streamline workflows, enabling data scientists to focus on generating insights.
- Strategic Partnerships: Outsourcing data tasks to experts optimizes costs while maintaining quality.
By implementing these simple strategies, utility companies can save resources when hiring and retaining data scientists, ensuring their organizations thrive in the era of data-driven transformation.
A Game-Changing AI Technology:
At Awesense, we have created the AI Data Engine, which uses machine learning to process utility data. This Engine ingests data sets from disparate sources and structures them according to the Energy Data Model (EDM). The EDM is the bedrock for AI implementation in utilities, enabling easy and secure access through APIs to integrate other technologies seamlessly. Once structured in the EDM, the Data Engine cleanses the structured data for connectivity errors. Depending on the datasets ingested, the result is a digital simulation of the electricity grid. This digital twin enables modeling scenarios in the occurrence of grid changes and developing analytics and use cases for more insight into grid management and modernization.
A Brighter Future with AI, Data, and Data Scientists
In unison, AI technology, data, and data scientists form a powerhouse trio propelling utilities into the future. They breed efficiency, minimize energy consumption, and drive sustainable practices. Their collaborative efforts hold the key to success as we battle climate change and modernize the electricity grid. The journey towards a greener and more efficient energy ecosystem is at hand. AI technology, harnessed by data scientists armed with quality data, is our compass. With Awesense’s AI Data Engine as the North Star, utilities are set to thrive in the era of data-driven transformation.
About the author:
Mischa Steiner
As the Founder & CEO of Awesense, Mischa plays a significant role in the continued vision of Awesense; to optimize humanity’s largest machine – the energy grid. Through his commitment to the environment, Awesense has helped remove over 2 million tons of CO2 from our partnered utilities’ energy systems.
