Kansas City Board of Public Utilities Adds eMeter, IBM, Siemens to Smart Grid Team

Siemens has teamed up with the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities (KCBPU), a publicly owned provider of electricity and water services to residences and businesses across Kansas City, Kan., to deliver eMeter Smart Grid Appliances. Each appliance includes a preloaded, rapidly deployable instance of eMeter EnergyIP meter data management system (MDMS) with IBM Tivoli and WebSphere software running on IBM Power Systems.

This partnership will support a network of more than 69,000 electric meters and 55,000 water meters. KCBPU has also contracted with Siemens for the implementation of eMeter Energy Engage, eMeter's customer web portal, to display consumer usage information to enhance the overall smart grid experience. Implementation for both the MDMS and web portal began in September of this year.

"KCBPU is confident that once eMeter EnergyIP is installed, the MDMS will serve as our Smart Metering focal point, the system of record for all meter data," said Bill Johnson, Manager of Electric Operations & Technology at KCBPU. "A project that comes in on time and on budget is important to us, and by working with Siemens, a company known for its project management rigor, we trust that will happen. We also strive to empower our customers to make intelligent consumption choices, which will be made possible through eMeter Energy Engage."

"By implementing these appliances, Siemens will help KCBPU reduce execution and test cycle time by a considerable amount," said Thierry Godart, president Smart Grid Division, Siemens Infrastructure and Cities, North America. "We, along with our partner eMeter, strive to provide KCBPU a secure MDMS, which will empower them to operate more effectively and truly engage their consumers to make more informed usage decisions."

IBM is also bringing their world-class technologies to the project. The Smart Grid Appliance is a pre-integrated, readily scalable, bundled solution of all the server hardware and software needed to put smart metering initiatives on the right track from day one. This first-of-a-kind offering with IBM enables the smallest to the largest utilities the ability to quickly realize the benefits of the Smart Grid, build more impactful demand management capabilities, and improve operational efficiencies and customer service responsiveness.

"By leveraging IBM technology, KCBPU will be able to streamline their Advance Metering Infrastructure projects and reduce implementation and operational costs associated with their smart grid programs," said Anna W. Topol, chief technology officer for energy and utilities, IBM Systems and Technology Group. "This serves as another example of IBM and its partners working together to help transition the world towards smarter energy and, ultimately, a smarter planet."