Future-Proofing the Grid: The PLTE, Industry Cloud Advantage

While traditional utility-telecom systems have proven resilient, they weren’t designed for the data loads or complexity of the rapidly accelerating clean energy transition. 

Amid surging power demand from, among others, electric vehicles and the battery, solar, and other factories building toward a clean-energy future, the challenge is further complicated by renewables’ intermittent and geographically scattered nature, exponentially growing the number of sophisticated assets on the grid. So, it’s easy to see why Private LTE (PLTE) is a hot topic.

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Utilities embrace grid-edge technologies like smart meters, microgrids, vehicle-to-grid (V2G), and more. The rapid, efficient buildout and operation of these vast new infrastructures require two key enablers: 

1. PLTE networks capable of securely supporting high-volume information exchange in the far more complicated grids of the near future.
2. Industry cloud for infrastructure software to manage the simultaneous deployment and operations of thousands of grid-edge systems. 

The good news is that industry cloud for infrastructure software could help deploy PLTE.

Industry Cloud for Infrastructure

PLTE systems won’t build themselves any faster than smart grids will. That’s where industry cloud for infrastructure software comes in. These solutions, also known as deployment operations management systems, help plan and manage job sites, assets, and crews in real time as they combine project, asset, and work management software. Being cloud-based, there’s a single source of truth accessible and updatable in real-time, whether on a mobile device in the field or on a PC in the office. That foundation helps these systems sharpen the planning and development phases, speed construction and implementation timelines, manage ongoing maintenance, and streamline vendor and labor management.

PLTE presents a low-risk way for a utility to implement industry cloud for infrastructure software. These systems emerged from the telecom industry, where hundreds of operators worldwide have used them to deploy tens of thousands of towers, LTE and 5G hardware units, small cells, and untold miles of fiber–all of which are PLTE building blocks. PLTE allows utilities to get familiar with industry cloud for infrastructure software, notch early wins, and then turn the technology to the larger task of building and adapting the grid for the energy transition.

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Industry cloud for infrastructure systems enables utilities to plan, execute, monitor, and maintain a PLTE project precisely in one centralized place. Early on, pre-application work and proposed resource allocations help utilities grasp what they need to move the process forward. These systems then streamline planning and scheduling through templated but flexible project plans that help stakeholders optimize resource allocation and anticipate problem areas. They automate compliance tracking and ensure documents are maintained accurately and submitted promptly. 

With PLTE projects underway, industry cloud for infrastructure systems tracks milestones, identifies bottlenecks, and establishes accountability for clearing them; forecasts resource needs; and generates comprehensive progress reports, empowering managers to address delays.

These systems have other features that exploit their cloud-based data architectures. They enable detailed budgeting and financial modeling that update as the projects evolve. They automate closeouts based on previously stored data, documents, mapping, and imagery, saving project managers hours of paperwork.

Finally, these systems enable detailed, real-time work tracking and management among employees and, just as importantly, among contractors. Industry cloud for infrastructure systems bring contractors into the fold through portals that let them review their scheduled work, update their progress, and check in on the status of those whose work precedes and follows theirs throughout the project lifecycle. Combined, industry cloud for infrastructure software empowers utilities to build out, operate, and maintain next-gen private communications networks faster, with fewer unpleasant surprises, and at lower cost.

They bolster grid modernization, which involves all the challenges of PLTE buildout and O&M but at an exponentially larger scale and complexity across projects, assets, sites, and field resources. Industry cloud for infrastructure solutions can serve as vital unifying forces for sprawling, functionally siloed utilities. Given the immense efforts and aggressive timeliness of decarbonization, utilities can’t afford multiple, often conflicting sources of truth; poor project tracking and visibility; or blinkered contractor and vendor management. The costs of scope creep, delays, quality issues, blown budgets, redundancies, and rework are all too familiar, and they’re too high.

The Need for PLTE

PLTE has big advantages over the status quo, including high bandwidth and low latency, and it is based on a global standard deployed by countless network providers. There’s a lot of LTE hardware and software to choose from and a wealth of LTE talent. Consolidating around LTE standards for a unified, utility-wide communications network makes sense from an O&M perspective compared to maintaining a potpourri of single-use networks. There’s also the potential for new revenue opportunities by piggybacking broadband services for underserved and rural communities.

Energy transition stakes are such that today’s status quo can’t become tomorrow’s. Legacy utility private communications and project management can’t handle the demands of the future grid. PLTE and industry cloud for infrastructure systems can. Using them will improve customer service, operational efficiency, and competitiveness while lowering costs and positioning the clean energy transition for success in the years ahead.