EnergyIP
eMeter’s flagship software, EnergyIP, is a combination of Meter Data Management (MDM) with a vendor-neutral integration platform. The EnergyIP Advanced Metering Information System suite includes data collection at regular intervals, complex billing, and detailed energy usage data presented through the web. eMeter’s service team is available to plan, install, and configure the EnergyIP software, as well as provide strategic consulting services related to meter data management, advanced metering and demand response.
eMeter was a spinoff of CellNet Data Systems. CellNet, a company that installed communication networks to bring together utility meters and send that information to the utility company, was founded in 1985 by Cree Edwards. When he realized no one else in the market was considering leveraging the metering data, Edwards, along with his co-founder Larsh Johnson, started eMeter.
The company has raised five rounds of funding so far, with the latest a $12.5 million investment from Siemens, Foundation Capital and DBL Investors in April 2008. In April 2007, the company raised their fourth round of $11.79 million in a round led by Foundation Capital. Previously, the company raised some seed capital and was then bootstrapped. eMeter is interested in raising more funds through mezzanine equity investors in the early part of this year.
When eMeter was conceived, there was no other competition in the market. The term Meter Data Management (MDM) only came into existence in 2004. eMeter was able to use its domain experience to gain a foothold in the market. It uses its software to enable utility companies to make the smart grid a certainty. The software links the latest networks with utility software applications that have been around for a couple of decades. Unlike its competition, the EnergyIP software manages real-time data and converts it into targeted messages that the utility companies can use to control shortages, calculate bills based on time of day usage and peak-time usage. Another differentiating factor is that EnergyIP provides a full suite of business process applications to design and manage smart grid networks.
From July 08 Press Release about Version 6.0
“With the 6.0 release we’ve set the foundation for the first mass market application based on real-time interval meter data,” said Cree Edwards, eMeter’s CEO. “This is absolutely fundamental to the premise of energy efficiency and demand response. Providing consumers with price incentives to use power efficiently depends on options like TOU (time of use) and CPP (critical peak pricing) programs where power prices reflect the real time-variable costs of energy, including future carbon costs. These types of pricing programs cannot be implemented without interval data and usage-based billing. EnergyIP is the leading application software supporting real-time interval data management on a massive scale.”
In addition to the extensive support for consumer TOU billing and exception handling, release 6.0 now covers the requirements for complex commercial and industrial (C&I) billing using interval data from these accounts. Functionality to support consumer solar and other renewable energy initiatives through the net metering processes is also in place.
These new functions are layered on a broad foundation of real-time processing that includes event handling, VEE (Validation, Estimation & Editing), and Billing Determinant computations. EnergyIP also provides a complete suite of meter and device management and provisioning services to support high volume meter installations. These functions are configurable for world-wide markets including Europe, Asia-Pacific, and North America. Version 6.0 also supports connectivity to 17 different Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) systems from leading providers such as Elster, Landis+Gyr, and Sensus. These off-the-shelf adapters allow utilities to choose a wide range of AMI technologies without custom coding and without the future headache of maintaining custom code.
EnergyIP version 6.0 is marketed globally in partnership with Siemens and leading system integrators. Version 6.0 is certified on industry-leading platforms including IBM AIX(R), Redhat Linux(R), and Sun Solaris(TM) as well as virtualization environments such as VMWare(TM). Along with its high- scalable real-time architecture, flexibility to support any AMI system, and third-party support, EnergyIP offers the lowest total cost of ownership.
