Vermont Public Power Supply Authority and mPower Innovations team up to bring major technology upgrades to Vermont’s smallest community-owned electric utilities
For more information:
Daniel Freeman, Marketing Manager
mPower Innovations
dfreeman@mpowerinnovations.com
(906) 239-3496
Julia Leopold, Communications Specialist
VPPSA
jleopold@vppsa.com
(802) 884-4488
The new mapping and data analytics software allows utilities to cost-effectively manage assets and track customer electricity use
Waterbury Center, VT – Vermont Public Power Supply Authority (“VPPSA”) and mPower Innovations announced today their strategic partnership to bring affordable mapping software and data analytics to 11 community-owned electric utilities. It is a foundational step in deploying future utility technology advancements, including VPPSA’s anticipated 2021 rollout of advanced metering infrastructure (“AMI”) for Vermont’s smallest electric utilities.
The partnership combines the expertise of two influential electric utility industry leaders. VPPSA is a joint action agency that provides services and solutions to their member municipal electric utilities and their combined 30,000 customers. mPower Innovations is a GIS software developer geared towards creating innovative utility solutions.
Under the partnership mPower and VPPSA will build and maintain a geographic information system (“GIS”) mapping program for each VPPSA member utility. A services and software licensing agreement allows VPPSA and its members access to mPower’s IntegratorTM software, which retrieves data from AMI meters and enables geospatially-based load analysis, voltage analysis, interconnection studies, and insight into energy use trends. VPPSA members can also use the IntegratorTM software for multiple purposes including cost-effectively managing utility assets, preventative maintenance, vegetation management, and outage tracking and analysis.
“GIS mapping and circuit modeling provide a solid foundation from which to build out further technological innovations, but it’s a service that small utilities may struggle to afford on their own,” said VPPSA General Manager Ken Nolan. “VPPSA is constantly exploring opportunities to bring economies of scale benefits to our members. We are grateful to mPower for developing an accessible price structure and think this arrangement could serve as a model to joint action agencies around the country.”
“We have a strong customer base in New England and I’m excited to see VPPSA’s vision becoming realized with our software offerings,” said mPower founder Greg Calcari. “Our IntegratorTM product is a powerful and flexible tool, and we are only beginning to tap the benefits it will bring to VPPSA and its members.”
As an indication of its commitment to the partnership, VPPSA has hired a full-time GIS Technician to work with member utilities and mPower to successfully deploy mapping software.
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About mPower Innovations
mPower Innovations was founded in 2006 and is a leader in the geospatial industry. They are headquartered in Iron Mountain, MI with additional offices in Appleton, WI, Grand Rapids, MI and Flowery Branch, GA.
mPower is a full-service, one-stop-shop for utilities and organizations at any stage of GIS and Smart Grid integration. They help their customers move from paper or basic digital maps to fully integrated, GIS-based operations and engineering applications. Their flagship software program is mPower Integrator™, a unique asset management & system integration software application that can intelligently connect and report on a variety of existing enterprise systems including outage management systems (OMS), advanced meter infrastructure (AMI) systems, customer information systems (CIS), work management systems (WMS), automated vehicle locator (AVL) systems and more.
mPower has a suite of software offerings including an Outage Management System, Work Management System, and a new IVR Solution. Their services division provides GPS collections, joint use audits, map cleanup and conversion services and mapping software training. For more information visit: www.mpowerinnovations.com.
About VPPSA
VPPSA provides municipal electric utility members with a broad spectrum of services and solutions, including regulatory assistance, financial planning, and power supply. VPPSA members include Barton Village, Village of Enosburg Falls, Hardwick Electric Department, Village of Jacksonville Electric Company, Village of Johnson Electric Department, Ludlow Electric Light Department, Lyndonville Electric Department, Morrisville Water & Light Department, Town of Northfield Electric Department, Village of Orleans, and Swanton Village Electric Department. For more information, visit www.vppsa.com