Understand Load, Unmask Solar, Shape the Grid

Utilities are navigating a new era of complexity. As solar panels, electric vehicles (EVs), heat pumps and other distributed energy resources (DERs) multiply, the distribution grid is losing visibility. A trend that shows no signs of slowing.

Without clear insights from both sides of the meter, utilities face growing uncertainty around how behind-the-meter load activity will impact grid operations. They need better ways to detect, measure, and optimize the growth and impact of DERs to turn this new capacity into an asset rather than a risk.

Next-generation AMI 2.0 smart meters with Sense embedded intelligence make this possible.

Understanding Load

These advanced meters can collect data at least 15,000 times a second, delivering new levels of load visibility into residential energy use that help utilities understand how load is changing across their networks.

By applying AI and machine learning to this high-resolution waveform data, utilities can see beyond the meter and identify hidden load growth that was previously undetectable. Visibility into load patterns at the neighborhood or even household level enables the creation of detailed load profiles that reveal how demand is evolving, from the adoption of new EVs to emerging heating and cooling trends such as the uptake of heat pumps.

Where this increased load might once have been a mystery, greater visibility turns it into an operational strength. With deeper insight, grid operators can identify opportunities for voltage optimization and detect outages faster to accelerate restoration. A better understanding of load also enables customized programs tailored to real customer behavior, helping reduce energy losses, manage peak demand and improve the overall customer experience.

Unmasking Solar

Smart meters with embedded intelligence can detect and measure behind-the-meter solar generation, giving utilities a clear view of how much clean power is being produced, self-consumed, or exported to the grid.

This same load visibility enables utilities to forecast and respond to changes in production, for example, when cloud cover passes over a neighborhood and solar output drops within seconds. With Sense insights, utilities can achieve more accurate solar generation forecasting, helping them plan, balance, and integrate distributed resources as renewable adoption grows.

Shaping the Grid

Unprecedented clarity into when, where, and how many EVs are charging at the grid edge can also be achieved at a critical moment. With flexible charging expected to be one of the most impactful elements of the upcoming projected rise in DER capacity, detailed and accurate EV load detection is too valuable a resource to ignore.

US heat pumps have also consistently outsold fossil fuel alternatives over the last three years. Identifying their increasing use across the grid is rapidly becoming vital as they shift heating energy demand from gas onto the electricity grid.

The visibility Sense provides is a gamechanger for utilities. More accurate load and solar generation forecasting turns operational planning into precision work. Utilities can make smart infrastructure investments based on real system constraints rather than a fuzzy snapshot of what’s happening across the grid.

This clarity means power purchasing and hedging strategies can be refined while time of use and dynamic pricing can be honed to better reflect how homes are using and generating energy.

The high-fidelity, situational awareness provided by a Sense-enabled network of smart meters enables a holistic view of the distribution grid. Instead of system-wide interventions that could disrupt thousands of households, responses can be targeted at the nodal or feeder level to minimize disruption while managing operational risk.

Load visibility has arrived

Smart meters embedded with Sense’s load visibility capabilities turn the uncertainty of distributed energy into actionable insights. This intelligence can be leveraged to enhance reliability, optimize investments, and unlock new value from previously hidden load growth.

The visibility, control and speed utilities need to manage the modern grid are now built into the meter and can be achieved today.