Abstract

CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric’s (CEHE) Smart Grid Project (Project) consists of (1) advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) including the deployment of more than 2.2 million advanced meters across CEHE’s entire service territory; (2) communications infrastructure which links the meters and facilitates the transfer of usage data from the meter back to CEHE’s data collection engine and ultimately to customers through the Smart Meter Texas (SMT) Web portal; and (3) distribution automation system upgrades covering a portion of the service territory. This area encompasses a portion of the Texas Medical Center (the world’s largest medical center), Houston’s key business districts, the Port of Houston, petrochemical infrastructure facilities that are vital to the nation’s fuel supply, and high reliability impact areas along the northern portion of the service territory. Project objectives include (1) automating meter reading, (2) eliminating truck rolls, (3) enabling residential and commercial customers to effectively manage and control their electricity usage, and (4) improving distribution system efficiency and reliability.