SmartSynch to Help Gila River Indian Community Utility Authority Provide Smart Grid Services to Its Customers

Jackson, MS — May 12, 2009

SmartSynch, Inc., a Smart Grid infrastructure company utilizing  standard IP communications via public wireless networks, announced today that they will provide smart grid infrastructure products and services to the Gila River Indian Community Utility Authority (GRICUA) on the Gila River Indian Reservation just outside of Phoenix, Arizona. This marks the first of what SmartSynch executives believe will be a growing number of Native American communities to leverage the reliability and scalability of smart grid technology utilizing existing public wireless networks to quickly and conveniently automate their electricity grids.

GRICUA currently provides electric services to about one-fifth of the Community’s total meter population, with a percentage of these meters being SmartSynch commercial SmartMeters™ previously deployed through an existing relationship with a neighboring utility. The remaining meters on the Reservation are owned by the federal government, who as part of an agreement with GRICUA will let the utility pursue new customers willing to change service providers, take over service after move-outs, and provide service to all new residents and businesses resulting from new development in the Community.

SmartSynch’s immediate deliverables include:

• Managing the daily collection and delivery of 15-minute interval data from the existing SmartSynch commercial SmartMeters™ to GRICUA for access via SmartSynch’s dedicated SmartView™ web portal;
• Upgrading these meters to include power outage and restoration notification functionality; and
• Deploying new SmartMeters™ to any remaining commercial and industrial locations, where GRICUA’s meters have yet to be automated.

SmartSynch will also help GRICUA deploy solutions for new and transferring customers as needed throughout the Community. This will eventually enable customers in the Community to benefit from programs such as demand response, demand side management and real-time pricing once implemented by GRICUA.

“SmartSynch’s use of existing public wireless networks enables us to quickly and easily deploy their solutions to all of our customers, and avoid spending millions of dollars on a private communications network just for the Community,” said William Pezalla, General Manager/CEO for the Gila River Indian Community Utility Authority. “From an operational standpoint, these solutions will also enable us to provide faster and safer response to customer service requests and power outages, while eliminating meter reading and work order costs. Data from these meters is utilized for billing, load forecasting, wholesale scheduling, and wholesale settlements.”

“This relationship perfectly illustrates the value proposition of strategically deploying scalable smart grid solutions utilizing public wireless networks as a communications backbone,” said Stephen Johnston, SmartSynch’s Chief Executive Officer. “The same great wireless networks that deliver rapid and reliable remote connectivity to anyone, anywhere are also high performance networks perfectly suited for immediate smart grid applications.”

About SmartSynch
SmartSynch has been the only provider of standard, IP communicating end-to-end smart grid solutions utilizing public wireless networks for the utility industry since 2000. Our clean-tech innovations in the two-way delivery of real-time energy usage data over public wireless networks, in lieu of proprietary networks, have to date simplified deployments for 100 major North American utilities, while enabling their clean-energy initiatives and delivering greater Returns on Resources.

As a smart grid infrastructure company, SmartSynch’s IP-based solutions are capable of delivering grid intelligence to and from any device. Our products and services include SmartMeters™ and SmartBoxes™ that immediately IP-enable the grid, software solutions, and network management services for utilities and their customers, as well as clean-tech companies in need of remote communications and control functionality for products ranging from solar panels to plug-in hybrid vehicles. 

IP-based public wireless networks enable utilities to strategically and rapidly deploy more secure and scalable smart grid solutions with minimal capital expenditures. IP networks and solutions may be remotely upgraded to interface with new technologies, since they are built upon open standards and leverage existing programs and tools. SmartSynch’s IP-based Smart Grid communications infrastructure encourages rapid application innovation and delivery of new functionality by allowing the broadest spectrum of ecosystem participants to focus on providing maximum benefits to utilities and their customers.

About GRICUA
GRICUA was founded in 1998 to provide reliable electric service to the Gila River Indian Community. GRICUA has entered a series of agreements with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to allow use of the BIA’s electric distribution system and to transfer the existing BIA utility customers to GRICUA. GRICUA currently provides services to over 550 commercial and residential customers on-Reservation. GRICUA has 14 employees including a 5 man line crew. GRICUA’s peak summer load will be 25MW.

« Back to News

Contact SmartSynch Today >>

Educational Material

Feel free to review our white papers and other educational material.