AT&T, Cooper Power Systems to Jointly Market Smart Grid Sensor Devices

AT&T said that it has entered into an agreement with Cooper Power Systems, a division of Cooper Industries, to jointly market and sell to utility companies smart grid sensor devices that are certified on AT&T’s (News - Alert) wireless data network.

The agreement enables utilities to receive real-time system performance data to operate their electric grids and reduce the need for on-site inspections. In addition, utilities can also now identify and solve problems that could cause outages or increase system energy losses.

AT&T officials said that this latest expansion of their efforts with smart grid technology in the machine to machine (M2M) space is to use wireless technology to streamline business processes and provide real-time monitoring of energy assets.

Chris Hill, vice president for mobility product management at AT&T Business Solutions, said that their suite of M2M pricing plans—designed specifically for the advanced meter infrastructure (AMI) market, nationwide coverage and dedicated M2M platform—makes the wireless grid monitoring solutions an economical, secure, and rapidly deployable choice for utilities.

The agreement calls on AT&T to co-sell two products with Cooper Power Systems under this agreement: OutageAdvisor and VARAdvisor.

Cooper Power Systems' OutageAdvisor solution provides utilities with a reliable means to locate and isolate problems on electricity delivery lines such as faults. In addition, utilities can also communicate a permanent fault event within the system.

Cooper Power Systems’ VARAdvisor is a low cost sensor alternative to manual inspection of equipment that controls the voltage supplied to consumers. With VARAdvisor, utilities companies can reduce operation and maintenance expense by monitoring capacitor bank fuse failures and reporting fuse failures over the AT&T wireless network, said officials.

“By offering Cooper Power Systems’ smart grid sensors, we can now provide businesses the ability to monitor their distribution network in real-time,” said Hill.

Mike Stoessl, group president at Cooper Power Systems, said that the agreement brings together Cooper Power Systems and AT&T, each of which is committed to leading the advancement of smart grid technology.

“Working together we will be able to help utilities streamline the way in which they gather the critical information they need to serve their customers,” added Stoessl.