After three years and an effort spanning the entire organization, the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority has completed its comprehensive 2011 Asset Management Plan. The plan identifies infrastructure needs and calls for increased resources for system rehabilitation.
To develop the plan, the Authority cataloged all its assets in a database. More than 200,000 assets, valued at some $5 billion, were identified and then prioritized by risk.
The Authority believes the new plan will allow it to “strategically focus [its] resources on the highest-risk areas.”
Chicago to Improve, Expand Demand Response
The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRDGC) is working with Comverge to significantly expand its existing demand response program. Using the company’s Intelligent Energy Management solutions, the utility can quickly reduce its energy usage — by more than 300 percent over previous years’ use — if the region’s electricity grid is on the verge of a brownout or blackout.
Wastewater Treatment Facility to Incorporate Solar Power
Town of Newtown, CT, has contracted with OPEL Solar for a 95 kilowatt turnkey solar photovoltaic (PV) installation at its wastewater treatment facility.
Newtown is receiving a grant of $325,000, covering a portion of the cost of the installation from a competitive bid grant awarded by the state’s Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (“CCEF”). The installation will include OPEL’s TF-800 single-axis trackers and PV panels from Grape Solar.
Ottawa Ends Estimated Billing
The City of Ottawa (Ontario, Canada) will deploy Itron smart water metering technology as the foundation of its Advanced Metering Infrastructure Project. The solution will help the utility eliminate estimated billing for ratepayers and help it be more efficient in its water service operations.
The two-year project consists of 210,000 smart water modules, fixed network two-way communications infrastructure and associated software, a meter data management system, and a variety of services -- including installation, project management, training and support. The smart meter modules will be retrofitted onto existing water meters within the service territory, minimizing service disruption for Ottawa’s customers.
With the system, Ottawa will be able to collect time-synchronized meter data in daily or hourly increments, giving customer service representatives access to real-time customer information.
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