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November - 2013 - issue > Top 10 Big Data companies
AutoGrid Systems Organizing the World's Energy Data
SI Team
Sunday, November 3, 2013
AutoGrid Systems optimizes the operation of the power grid through predictive analytics, cloud computing and Big Data. For over a century, utilities and power providers have compensated for fluctuations and power capacity by producing more power than necessary, resulting in higher prices, greater energy consumption and more emissions. In recent years, many utilities have struggle with trying to integrate intermittent renewables like wind and solar and accommodate new applications such as EVs.


AutoGrid's Energy Data Platform (EDP) is a cloud-based software platform that analyzes petabytes of data from smart meters, building management systems, past consumption patterns, physical models of a grid in a particular region and other sources to create a comprehensive, forward-looking portrait of the grid that utilities and their customers can use to fine-tune their consumption and activities. Like airline reservation systems or weather forecasting programs, EDP can unearth patterns in data and quickly devise solutions to immediate, real-world problems.


With EDP, utilities can offer customers financial incentives to turn down thermostats and lights to curb peak power consumption. "Applications built on EDP can be used to detect power theft, increase the amount of power coming from solar or wind facilities or fine-tune power consumption at industrial plants to reduce excess demand charges which can increase utility bills by 25 percent or more," explains Amit Narayan, CEO. Instead of generating additional power, utilities can intelligently distribute power already produced. That is why we say Big Data is the cheapest, cleanest source of power.


AutoGridDemand Response Optimization and Management System (DROMS), the first commercial application built on top of EDP, can cut the cost of implementing demand response programs by 90 percent while increasing the 'yield' of power by up to 30 percent.


Austin Energy, City of Palo Alto Utilities, SAP Co-Innovation Laboratory, the city of Sunnyvale and Oklahoma Gas & Electric have already implemented demand response systems based on DROMS. AutoGrid is also working with Silver Spring Networks, Schneider Electric and NTT on new applications and services for EDP.


Founded by experts in electronic design automation and complex e-commerce systems, AutoGrid began operations in 2010. Investors include Foundation Capital, Voyager Capital, Stanford University. The company also collaborates with the California Energy Commission, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Department of Energy under the Advanced Projects Research Agency-Energy.

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