This November, I had the privilege of leading a fireside chat at the Utility Broadband Alliance Summit and Plugfest on how utilities can prepare for the energy surge from data centers, as well as AI, EV and cryptocurrency. I really liked the title of the session, although I am a little unclear on who came up with it: “Data Centers Everywhere: It’s a Drag, Man.”
As with any open discussion, the conversation took its own shape as the panelists addressed questions on how the stability of the grid may be affected, what engineering challenges are being faced, and how broadband communications plays a role in modernization of the grid (to address the energy transition and that energy surge). I was joined by Jack Janney of Southern California Edison, David Hulinsky from Black & Veatch and Ali Shah of Nokia.
I had been invited to the event more than a year prior when I met with Anterix’s Ryan Gerbrandt, one of the founding members of UBBA, and since it was in Kansas City, where I live, I couldn’t pass it up. But beyond that, T&D World is planning to cover more stories on utility communications in the next year.
It has come full circle for me, as I joined a magazine called Mobile Radio Technology right out of college after interning with Transmission and Distribution World. We covered communications for mission-critical applications, utilities being part of that. Back then, utilities used land mobile radio for day-to-day operations (and many still do). Automation was becoming more widespread for utilities, but we hadn’t yet come into “smart grid;” we were just on the horizon of “big data.” Power-line carrier systems were used, which carried both voice and data. Starting in the 1980s, licensed 900 MHz point-to-multipoint radio systems became popular, especially for small substations. These systems provided cost savings over leased phone lines and were under the complete control of the utility company.
In the 1990s, unlicensed 900 MHz mesh radio systems were installed and added to the communications network mix. The first reaction was that these radio systems provided undetermined communication response times and were not suitable for monitoring and control. However, with proper design and management, these systems came to meet the requirements then.
The idea of a smart grid with advanced technology and communication capabilities began to emerge in the early 2000s. Here we are in 2024, and smart grid had turned into grid modernization. And with grid modernization comes more complicated communications needs for utilities.
So utilities turned to networks owned by cellular providers such as AT&T and Verizon. This may work for a while, but it leaves utilities subject to outages and limited functionality (and bandwidth). Just this past February, AT&T suffered an outage reportedly affecting public safety communications. I didn’t find any reports from electric utilities but that drives home the riskiness of using a third-party telecommunications firm.
As I walked into the keynote session at the UBBA event, I heard Burns & McDonnell CEO Leslie Duke mentioning the very topic my session would be covering, and well as the main topic of conversation I have heard at events the second half of this year: data center demands. She mentioned that 38 GW is the peak demand growth in electricity that grid planners forecast for the United States through 2028, driven by growth of data centers as well as onshoring more manufacturing, EVs and AI.
So how do we meet the demand? We know the answer is multifaceted. There may not be a single answer. One of the ones I hadn’t considered yet is private LTE networks. You must think about what it takes to modernize the grid. And one of those components is the telecommunications system supporting it. Duke stated it simply: “PLTE is a way to achieve goals.”
It has pushed utilities to take charge of their own telecom infrastructure. Big names like San Diego Gas & Electric, Evergy, Ameren, Xcel Energy, Tampa Electric and Southern Company have all moved to private LTE networks. They’re using these networks for their internal communications and to manage the millions of devices in the field—from sensors and smart meters to digital substations. And it's not just the major investor-owned utilities.
In August, Ericsson announced a landmark collaboration with NRTC, Southern Linc and Anterix to deliver private network solutions to electric cooperatives of all sizes and service terrains across the United States.
My utility, Evergy, as mentioned above, worked with Burns & McDonnell in designing its private network and supporting the build-out management. Evergy is deploying Ericsson’s cloud-native dual-mode 5G Core and private RAN network, which supports both LTE and 5G, allowing for a transition to future 5G services. Ericsson is also supporting Evergy’s ability to rapidly expand PLTE to enable grid modernization applications. Evergy expedited the cell site build plan and launched the first site in May 2022, which was less than two months from the project award.
I also have learned since I was an editor at MRT, that Anterix is the largest holder of licensed spectrum in the 900 MHz band. Anterix’s Chairman and CEO co-founded Nextel Communications and now focuses pretty much exclusively on working with utilities on spectrum needs.
A 2021 survey conducted by the Utility Broadband Alliance to gather feedback on broadband infrastructure strategies’ challenges and needs revealed a lack of education on the issues as the greatest challenge in supporting a broadband network, as well as a lack of communication network expertise. The report concluded that “Utilities need to prioritize a strategic communications roadmap addressing the opportunities and challenges presented herein.”
We would like to hear your communications stories. If you have any recommendations, experiences or comments on how your utility is doing communications now or where you are going with it, let us know.
