A Modern Communications Platform to Enable the Modern Grid: A Utility-Grade Wireless Broadband Network

Abstract

Here’s a frank assertion: The United States cannot reasonably hope to meet its decarbonization goals unless its electric utilities deploy modern, private, wireless broadband communications networks. Drawing that connection between decarbonization and broadband capabilities is less complicated than it sounds (Figure 1). In short, addressing climate change requires reduced reliance on fossil fuels to generate electricity and more reliance upon renewable resources, which the grid is not designed to fully accommodate. Ramping up renewables requires a smarter grid and that means using millions of widely distributed sensors to create data, applications to analyze data, and smart devices to take action based upon data. Collecting and communicating all that data requires—here it is—a utility-grade wireless broadband network.