Last year, the Department of Energy estimated in its  2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure (Energy) that grid failures cost between $28 billion and $169 billion annually. This is expected to increase as more renewables and electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure is placed onto the grid–unless utilities do something to mitigate the risk.

Low-voltage (LV) network management solutions help bridge the gap between established meter infrastructure and applications, such as EV charging profiles and distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS), to improve reliability and power quality, as well as access to more granular data for better visibility.

According to a survey we conducted in partnership with Itron in 2021, Leveraging AMI for the Low Voltage Landscape, we found that utilities primarily pursue these technologies to maintain service quality for end customers and gain real-time visibility for LV network operations.

This is critical as distributed networks are becoming more prevalent and will greatly alter the structure of the grid. With the proliferation of renewables and the increase in EV infrastructure–along with the rise of prosumers, utilities are having to adapt quickly and prioritize grid visibility to manage serious challenges, such as power quality issues, as well as managing bi-directional power flows, inaccurate billing, etc.

We found that 37% of utilities included improved power quality measurement and management as a top benefit of leveraging AMI data. We expect this to have increased within the last three years.

Additionally, we discovered that 60% of utilities at that time were currently using or planned to use AMI data for LV management. Gaining access to behind-the-meter information is crucial to supporting these applications across the board. And though it’s promising that more than half of utilities were on track to leverage their AMI data, only 43% of them were very ready/extremely ready to support and scale smart utility applications over the next five years (33% and 10%, respectively).

Some of the challenges to supporting smart utility applications include integration with other internal or external IT systems and technology sourcing and management. Finding trusted partners and vendors is important for utilities to not only identify the right tools, but also ensure a smooth implementation and management of the solutions post deployment.

Despite these challenges, utilities are investing in a host of LV applications, including EV detection and EV fleet management, commercial photovoltaic detection, active and transformer load monitoring, as well as Distributed Energy Resource (DERs) management and network optimization.

Additional benefits of investing in these applications include improved situational awareness, enhanced reliability, especially when faced with a variable load (i.e., renewables), increased asset health and longevity, as well as finding new revenue streams and ways to engage with customers. Many utilities may still be in the planning and sourcing phase of deployment, which makes it a perfect time for vendors and partners to collaborate with utility stakeholders to ensure the best possible return on investment.

Without a doubt, the growing number of EVs and DERs are and will cause major disruption to the grid as we know it. Yet, utilities can leverage existing AMI network investments with low voltage management solutions to provide greater visibility, control, and reliability moving forward.

Stay tuned as Zpryme and Itron team up again this year to release an updated low voltage landscape report and see how utilities investments have shifted over the past two years.

For more information on low voltage management solutions visit Itron.