Nation’s First “Smart Grid” White Spaces Network Trial

Spectrum Bridge, Inc, in partnership with Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative & Telecommunications (PSREC) and Google, announced today that Plumas-Sierra County, CA has launched the nation’s first “Smart Grid” wireless network trial utilizing TV White Spaces spectrum. With its outstanding propagation characteristics, ability to penetrate foliage and non-line of sight connectivity, PSREC chose TV White Spaces to enable “Smart Grid” technologies to investigate more efficient ways to manage its supply-and-demand of electricity, improve System Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) with PSREC Substations and provide broadband Internet access to underserved areas. TV White Spaces are unused TV broadcast channels made available by the recent transition from Analog to Digital TV. As part of the National Broadband Plan, the FCC has declared that TV White Spaces are well suited for wireless data networks and can be used to deliver cost effective broadband connectivity for a wide variety of consumer, business and government applications.Lori Rice, Chief Operating Officer at PSREC, summarized the results of their experience so far, “Plumas, Lassen and Sierra Counties are located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and present some very technical challenges with respect to wireless coverage. The ability to use White Space has proven to be an effective option for dealing with difficult terrain and offers another option for wireless connectivity.”

PSREC currently employs a wide variety of wireless solutions across multiple frequency bands, but still faces challenges in some areas due to challenging terrain. The applications deployed for the Plumas-Sierra “Smart Grid” wireless network trial deliver real-time broadband connectivity to remote substations and switchgear, allowing PSREC System Operators to manage the Electrical system remotely, request critical data from substations, manage power flow and protect the system and employees while maintaining the local grid. The wireless network is also providing broadband access to an underserved community. In addition, PSREC has also deployed Google’s PowerMeter technology, an energy monitoring tool that helps consumers save energy and money using information provided by a smart meter. With the White Spaces network and Google PowerMeter, consumers can view real-time detailed energy consumption data from anywhere, online.