Download 1 - Southern California Edison

Request for Information
Response Template
SCE’s Advanced Metering Infrastructure Program
Next Generation Metering System
December 2, 2005
Table of Contents
Response Sections
Introduction and Purpose of the Response Document……………………………………. 3
Company Information – AMI Solution Provider Company………………………………. 3
Next Generation AMI Solution…………………………………………………………… 7
AMI - Metrology…………………………………………………………………………. 9
AMI - Communications Solutions……………………………………………………….. 11
AMI – Security……………………………………………………………………….….. 17
AMI – Product Profile…………………………………………………………….………. 17
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Introduction
SCE provides electricity service (delivery and commodity) to over 4.5 million customers in Southern California
and is seeking to identify vendors that have, or are actively developing, a “next generation” Advanced Metering
Infrastructure (AMI) solution. SCE’s concept of an AMI solution includes advanced digital metering plus
communication interfaces with distribution network and customer endpoint devices. This RFI is intended, in
part, to better understand your company’s development efforts and to determine which products and companies
align with SCE’s AMI program objectives. After reviewing the associated “SCE_AMI_RFI” background
document (included with this e-mail solicitation as a separate attachment), and if you would like to have your
company be evaluated as a potential AMI meter and/or communications solutions provider to SCE, please
complete and return the following questionnaire.
Company Information - AMI Solution Provider Company
1) Please identify your company’s principle market segments. (Please circle the appropriate response).
1
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
1
2
3
1 and 2
1 and 3
2 and 3
1, 2, and 3
Meter
2
3
Telecommunications
In-Premise Devices
Select Key Functionality
• Metrology
• PQ Metrics
• Remote Disconnect
• MCU / Memory
In-Home
Display
Devices
Load
Switches
Local Area Network
Wide Area Network
Home Area Network Interface
Smart
T-stat
Solid State
Controls
2) Corporate model & principle sources of funding
(Please place check marks as appropriate and provide responses in the spaces provided)
□
a) Public company
Legal name: __________________________________
Exchange listed: ____________ Symbol: __________
□
b) Privately held (If privately held, please indicate if any utility investors & principal source of funding)
i. Are there any Utility investors (Please mark the appropriate response)
Yes No
□
□
□
ii. Private equity (Lead investor:_____________________________ )
iii. Venture capital (Lead investor:____________________________ )
iv. Operational cash flow
3) Number of years in electric metering solution business? ( _____ )
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4) Facility locations and principle operations (Please fill-in the blanks).
Facility #
Facility Name
EXAMPLE Corp Headquarters
1
2
3
4
5
City / State / Country
Redding, CA. USA
Facility Type
Administrative offices, manuf, etc.
5) Scale of principle operations:
Number of
Employees
Area
Significant
Outsourcing
(Yes/No)
Please describe any significant outsourcing
contracts / relationships
Engineering
Manufacturing
Assembly
Marketing / Sales
Admin / General
Customer / Technical Support
Other (_________________)
6) Contact information
Contact Information
Name
Primary Contact
Chief Technology Officer
Title
Mailing Address
E-mail address
Office Telephone #
Cell #
Primary Fax #
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Lead Engineer
7) Annual revenues
2000
$
2001
2002
$
2003
$
$
2004
Estimated 2005
$
2004
Estimated 2005
$
8) AMI solutions product shipments
2000
Installed Units:
2001
Installed Units:
2002
2003
Installed Units:
Installed Units:
Installed Units:
Installed Units:
9) Next generation AMI installations (planned or underway)
EndPoints
Deployments
Pilot / Trial
Commercial product installations
Planned for 2006
In-premise units (non-meter end points)
# Collectors
(if any)
Location
(State/Province)
Expected
Duration
10) Please provide references for the above referenced deployments.
Project Name
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EndPoints
Utility
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Name & Title of Primary
Contact
Telephone #
Corporate Profile
11) Please provide the corporate structure, as appropriate.
Name
Principle
Business Type
Location
Holding Company
(if different)
Subsidiary (if any) #1
Subsidiary (if any) #2
Subsidiary (if any) #3
Subsidiary (if any) #4
12) Holding company annual revenues (If different)
2000
2001
$
$
2002
$
2003
$
2004
$
Estimated 2005
$
a. Is your company currently involved in any legal proceedings related to intellectual property or
commercial relationships?
Yes No
b. Are there any known potential conflicts of interest with any competitors?
Yes No
End of Company Profile Section
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Next Generation AMI Solution
SCE is currently employing a systems engineering approach to define the functional and non-functional
requirements, and system architecture. To provide directional guidance in advance of this work, the conceptual
capabilities set below identifies functionality that is currently being evaluated.
High Level Conceptual
Meter & Communication Device Functionality
Open Design and Standards
•Internal / External expansion
•Input / Output interoperability
•Software enabled functions
•Data structure & security standards
•Messaging / control protocol standards
Communications
Metrology & Intelligence
•ANSI C12.19 compliant
•Distributed generation detection
•Power quality monitoring & reporting
•Net metering capabilities
•Meter data captured in non-volatile memory
•Remotely programmable / configurable
•Self diagnostics and remote reporting
•Remote disconnect / current limiting capabilities
•15+ year MTTF
•2-way communications to meter
•High reliability
•Multiple WAN options
•Meter self registering at install
•Home Area Network communications
•2-way communications & control
(e.g. load switches, communicating
thermostats, misc. sensors)
•Ancillary device self registry
•Gas / water meter readability
•Emergency event notification / confirm
Figure 1
13) Regarding your company’s next generation technology development, please respond to the following
questions:
Development Activity
Yes
a) Is your company currently working on a “next generation” AMI technology solution?
b) Does it closely relate to the types of functional capabilities outlined in Figure 1?
c) Is your company interested in working with SCE to incorporate additional capabilities?
d) Is your company interested in working with a utility consortium to meet their objectives
surrounding interoperability and security capabilities?
e) Does your company expect to have commercial product available for SCE to test within the
next 12 months?
Date:
f) If product will be available for testing sooner, please indicate the anticipated date
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No
14) Regarding the current status of your company’s next generation AMI technology solution as it most closely
aligns with SCE’s conceptual capabilities (figure 1, above), what is the current level of product maturity?
(Please place an “X” in the status column next to the most appropriate “stage” description, and indicate the
date anticipated for movement to the next sequential stage, for letter a-e).
Next Generation AMI Solution – Product Stage
a) Engineering design but no prototype
b) Alpha product under testing
c) Pre-commercial beta product
d) Commercially available
e) Other – please specify:
Status
Target Date
15) Please provide brief responses to the following (Note: for the following question and all other questions
where text boxes are provided for open ended responses, please craft response to fit within the space provided).
a) Overview & status of your company’s AMI product development efforts
b) Willingness to enhance product to accommodate SCE’s functional and non-functional requirements
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AMI – Metrology
16) For meter manufacturers, (those respondents that classified themselves as such in accordance with your
self-selected market segment as captured in your response to question #1 (e.g. you circled response a,d,e, or g)
please indicate the level of alignment with the following METER capabilities.
If you classified your company as taking part in the meter manufacturing segment, please respond to the
following question and then skip to question #27. If you did not classify your company as falling into
the meter manufacturing segment, please skip to question #17.
a) How do the following (Meter/ Metrology) characteristics fit within your company’s solution?
(Please place an “X” in the appropriate column and include the planned date of availability as
appropriate).
Ref #
Description
Not on Road
Map
In
Development
Available
When?
Is your company’s solution based on current state-of-the-art
solid state meter component technology
ii
Time stamped meter data
iii Integrated remote disconnect or current limiting device?
iv Usage data recorded on unique channels to support NET
metering (inflow/outflow)
v
Remote tamper detection
vi Remotely programmable / upgradeable firmware
vii Will your company’s solution include partitioned firmware
(e.g. boot loaders) to keep the meter running during upgrade
(e.g. communication parameters, clock, tariffs, security, etc.)
viii Available in meter form type 1S?
ix Form type 2S?
x
Form type 12S?
xi Form type 16S?
xii Form type 3S?
xiii Form type 5S?
xiv Form type 9S?
xv 2S class 320?
Possess capability of remote programming for the level of
xvi interval granularity (e.g. 5 min interval vs. 15 min interval)
xvii Residential meter capable of storing at least 35 days
of 15 min interval data in non-volatile on-board memory
xviii Integrated RFID tag in meter for asset tracking
xix Minimum 15 year MTTF1 for meter
xx Compliant with ANSI C12.19 Standard?
xx Will your company’s solution be in compliance with SCE
Specification E-100 SSM (appendix C)?
i
1
MTTF is a basic measure of reliability for non-repairable systems. It is the mean time expected until the first failure of a piece of equipment. MTTF is a
statistical value and is meant to be the mean over a long period of time and large number of units. For constant failure rate systems, MTTF is the inverse
of the failure rate. If failure rate is in failures/million hours, MTTF = 1,000,000 / Failure Rate for components with exponential distributions.
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b) If your company has or are currently developing an integrated disconnect for residential meters, please
elaborate on the device characteristics? (Please place an “X” in the appropriate “yes/no” column).
Disconnect Device Characteristics
i. 200 Amp continuous rating
ii. If other than 200 Amp, please specify ( __________________ )
iii. Is the device’s “make / break” capability rating the same as continuous?
iv. Current limiting capabilities (incremental reduction)?
v. Customer “reset” switch / button
vi. Minimum 15 year MTTF on device
vii. Please list the form types to be available ( ____________________ )
Yes
No
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
c) What power quality measurement capabilities does/will your company’s residential solution contain?
(Please place an “X” in the appropriate “yes/no” column and provide a brief response
regarding time interval (instantaneous, RMS average over cycles/seconds, etc.).
Power Quality Measurement
i. Voltage
ii. Current
iii. Frequency
iv. Please specify IEEE 1159 phenomenon’s your
company’s solution will be capable of measuring.
Yes
No
Time Interval (cycles or seconds)
(Please specify):_________________________
iv. Other (Please specify) ____________________
v. Other (Please specify) _____________________
vi. Other (Please specify) ____________________
d) Regarding AMI communications supplier relationships, please provide which firms your company is
currently working with, plan to work with, or are open to working with in 2006.
AMI communication solution Providers – Alliances and Partnerships
Currently working with
Plan to work with
1
2
3
4
5
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Open to working with
AMI – Communications Solutions
17) Regarding the current status of your company’s “next generation” AMI metering solution as indicated
above, can you please indicate the level of alignment with the following COMMUNICATIONS capabilities?
(Please respond in accordance with your self-selected market segment based on your response to question #1 –
e.g you circled response b, d, f or g).
If you classified your company as providing a technology solution for segment 2, please respond to the
following questions. If you did not classify your company as a Communications Solution Provider,
please skip to question #27.
How do the following COMMUNICATIONS characteristics fit within your company’s “next
generation” AMI solution? (Please place an “X” in the appropriate column and include the planned
date of availability as appropriate).
Ref #
i
ii
iii
iv
v
vi
vii
viii
ix
x
xi
xii
xiii
xiv
xv
Description
Solution provides for remote software
update / firmware upgrade / programmability
Minimum 15 year MTTF2 for communication solution
Two-way communications with the meter
Minimal network system administration and maintenance
Will the metering device be IP addressable?
Will the metering device use an alternate industry standard
addressing scheme? Standard: ( _______________________ )
Possess Home Area Network (HAN) communication capability
(able to communicate with in-premise & around the premise
devices, confirm receipt of node signals sent and received)
HAN communications capability under the meter cover
Communications solution integrated with at least three (3)
different residential meter manufacturers’ product
End-node device (meter, in-premise devise) self registry through
the communications network
Will the HAN protocol support remote upgrades to end-node
devices?
Support multiple integrated WAN backhaul options
Support the ability to acquire gas/water meter reads
Will your company’s solution be compliant with the IEC 61850
Standard Common Information Models (CIM)?
Please list which ANSI C12.xx standards your company’s
solution complies with:
2
Not on
Road
Map
In
Development
Available
When?
N/A
N/A
N/A
MTTF is a basic measure of reliability for non-repairable systems. It is the mean time expected until the first failure of a piece of equipment. MTTF
is a statistical value and is meant to be the mean over a long period of time and large number of units. For constant failure rate systems, MTTF is the
inverse of the failure rate. If failure rate is in failures/million hours, MTTF = 1,000,000 / Failure Rate for components with exponential distributions.
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18) The following graphic attempts to depict some basic possible AMI communications architectures. Please
review and identify which if any of the following architectures best describes your company’s next generation
AMI technology solution.
Various Communication Architectures
HAN
Nodes
Meter Collector
Device Device
Aggregator
Backhaul
Utility
System
N
1
M
N
WAN
Agg
N
Backhaul
Utility
System
M
CM
Agg
WAN
5
N
M
N
C
O
L
L
WAN
M
N
N
N
N
N
C
O
L
L
N
WAN
Agg
WAN
CM
CM
N
N
Agg
WAN
N
6
7
M
M
N
4
Metering
Collector Aggregator
N
N
3
Meter
Device
N
C
O
L
L
N
2
HAN
Nodes
N
C
O
L
L
N
N
CM
N
WAN
WAN
N
M
M
None of the above = 9
Sub Categorization
A = RF Peer-to=Peer Mesh Network
B = Meter to designated collector only
C = Meter to various collectors (dynamic, but not peer-to-peer)
D = Other
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8
Referring to the graphic above, please respond to the following questions.
Please
Select One
(Architecture
#1-9 & A-D).
Communication Architecture
Commercially
available
when?
Is it
evolving?
If yes, to
which?
Anticipated
evolved
architecture
available
when?
a) Based on the graphic above, please
identify the architecture that best
describes your company’s current AMI
solution.
b) Please identify the architecture that
best describes your company’s “next
generation” AMI solution (1-9, A-D).
19) Regarding your company’s “Home Area Network” communications interface or “Network control
solution”, please responds with a “yes” or “no” in each of the last two columns as appropriate.
Available
(yes/no)
Home Area Network Solution Description
RF solution
PLC solution
Integrated PLC and RF solution
Meter serves as “gateway”
Concentrator / aggregator serves as “gateway”
Non-proprietary communications protocols
(please specify)
Planned
(yes/ no)
20) Regarding product integration with a solid state metering product(s), please identify which firms your
company is currently working with, plan to work with, or open to working with in 2006.
Currently working with
Plan to work with
1
2
3
4
5
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Open to working with
21) Please identify any in-premise products commercially available (e.g. communicating thermostats, load
switches, in-home display devices, etc.) that can be used with your company’s existing or soon to be available
HAN solution.
Item #
Product Supplier
Product description
# Units deployed /
piloted
1
2
3
4
5
6
22) Regarding your company’s Wide Area Network interface:
Wide Area Network
Available
Additional Planned
(& date available)
Current communications mediums supported
Future communication mediums / interfaces planned
Multiple integrated backhaul options
23) SCE’s deployment schedule for a successful Advanced Integrated AMI solution would commence in the
4th Quarter of 2009. The overall system is expected to have a minimum 15 year MTTF. Viable WAN
communication options are growing. How will your company’s ultimate WAN solution address this evolving
technology/industry?
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24) What emerging WAN technologies would your company recommend the advanced metering industry pay
close attention to, and why?
25) Please identify which AMI communications interfaces your company plans to standardize, considering at
least the following possibilities (note that “interface” may include physical connections, protocols, information
models, etc.):
Ref
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Not
planning to
Standardize
Communication Interfaces
Will be
Standardized
When?
Back office data management
Wide area network (WAN)
Local area network (LAN) (e.g. WiFi, WiMAX, Ethernet)
Home area network (HAN) (e.g. Z-Wave, Zigbee, Bluetooth)
Interface to distributed generation
Interface to transmission and distribution automation systems
Interface to peripheral devices or expansion modules such as
displays or switch panels.
26) Please name the communications standards your company would recommend for use in AMI. For each
standard, please use the following table to identify:
a) The organization responsible for publishing and updating the standard.
b) Whether there are any licensing concerns with the standard, i.e. can any vendor use it without providing
profit to a competitor?
c) What type of standard it is, e.g. 1) protocol, 2) information exchange, 3) physical interface, 4) electrical
interface, 5) Common Information Model (CIM) and Generic Interface Definition (GID).
d) Why your company recommends this standard over other similar standards.
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26) Continued
Standard
© SCE_AMI_RFI
a)Responsible b)Licensing
Organization Concerns
c)Type of
Standard
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d)Why this standard over others?
Security
27) Please list which security algorithms and technologies your company’s products currently use and which it
plans to use in the next generation technology solution, e.g. (SHA, AES, IPSec, TLS, SSH, etc.). Please
identify for what purpose each is used.
Security
Currently Use
Next Generation
Algorithms
Technologies
How your company currently / will
distribute and update security
credentials to your products
28) Please describe any security measures used to protect data and authenticate commands issued to the meter.
AMI – Product Profile
29) Please identify your company’s expected “next generation” AMI technology price ranges (not including
installation or other system costs).
Meter Device
Units
Per Unit Price
Collector Device
Aggregator Device
Per Unit Price
(required to support meter unit volume)
Per Unit Price
(required to support meter unit volume)
500,000
$
$
$
5,000,000
$
$
$
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30) What base product warranty does your company plan to offer for the above stated price?
Meter Device
Base Warranty
Units
Collector Device
Base Warranty
Aggregator Device
Base Warranty
500,000
# Years =
# Years =
# Years =
5,000,000
# Years =
# Years =
# Years =
31) Where does your company plan to have the next generation product manufactured?
Activity
Performed
on-shore / off-shore
Geographic
Location (or State)
Daily Volume
Capacity
Annual
Capacity
Manufacturing
Assembly
Product Warehousing
32) What reliability measurement(s) is your company targeting related to data capture and overall performance?
33) What quality control or quality processes does your firm employ from design to manufacturing to achieve a
high level of product reliability? Please briefly describe your quality control programs (e.g. Six Sigma, etc.)
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34) Is your company ISO 9000 / 9001certified? (Please place an “X” in the appropriate cells).
Certifications
ISO 9000
ISO 9001
Yes
No
In Progress
35) What metrics will your company use to describe the reliability of its system? (e.g. 99% of interval reads
transmitted daily).
36) What tests do/will your company conduct to validate that performance? (Please briefly describe)
37) SCE is looking to be actively engaged with vendors and manufacturers on their product development cycle.
Based on this desired involvement:
Questions surrounding product development collaborative activities
Yes
No
N/A
N/A
a) Based on your company’s existing road map, is there flexibility in adapting your
product to SCE’s functional and non-functional capabilities?
b) Will your company provide its product development plan with milestone dates upon
request?
c) Will your company provide SCE with access to its engineering, testing and production
processes to validate production status?
d) Are there any conditions surrounding access to the above?
e) If you responded with “yes” to the previous question, please provide a brief
explanation.
Thank you for your timely response!
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