The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Teradata unveils partnership for ‘smart-grid’ market

Frozen yogurt shop offers frenzy of flavors, toppings
5:58 p.m.
Is your “unlimited” data being throttled?
2:32 p.m.
Wright-Patterson relatively unscathed in Obama defense budget
4:55 p.m.
Dayton Mall shoe store moving
4:32 p.m.
Dayton Children's website ranks high in study
11:42 a.m.
> More headlines

By Thomas Gnau, Staff Writer 8:59 AM Friday, February 5, 2010

Teradata Corp. has announced a partnership with Itron Inc. in creating a tool that the companies say will help power companies organize and possibly share information.

The software tool is called “Active SmartGrid Analytics.” The tool includes a Teradata data warehouse tool along with Itron tools. The idea is to offer energy companies access to customer information in ways that are meant to be helpful to both power providers and customers.

“Consumption analytics is a critical capability for utility companies that want to realize maximum return on their smart metering and smart grid investments,” Julie Hance, vice president of software solutions for Itron North America, said in a statement by Teradata and Itron released Thursday, Feb. 4.

Today, customers may get energy usage information by calling utility firm call centers, said D’Anne Hotchkiss, a Teradata spokeswoman. But with this tool, utilities can capture and share the information in new ways. Utilities can also more precisely plan for times when power consumption is greatest and shifts in usage occur, she said.

“The big issue is capacity,” Hotchkiss said. “They (utility providers) have to be able to supply enough capacity for the highest peak.”

And companies can explain to customers, for example, that running a dishwasher later in the evening will be more efficient than running it during peak hours, she added.

“This (Active SmartGrid Analytics) allows them to break it down into small, time-of-day (information) segments,” Hotchkiss said.

Teradata cited a 2009 report by Brattle Group that said $880 billion will be spent by U.S. utilities over the next two decades to improve metering, distribution and transmission. The new tool is meant to meet that “smart-grid” market.

With about 400 employees at its Miami Twp. headquarters, Teradata is focused on database software, enterprise data warehousing and more.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.

Share this article