Networked Energy Services Response to Static Energy Meter Accuracy Study

NES clarifies that Echelon meters were not associated with the recent 
Static Energy Meter Accuracy Report

San Jose, CA, March 29^th, 2017: Networked Energy Services Corporation (NES), a global smart grid solution provider with the industry’s leading Patagonia Energy Applications Platform (EAP^TM), announced today the University of Twente in the Netherlands had not tested the accuracy of its meter in the recent published Static Energy Meter Accuracy Report. Recently there have been various industry articles referencing this report that identified meter accuracy errors caused by certain laboratory conditions meant to simulate households using numerous electromagnetic emitting devices. Some of these articles unintentionally misused a photo of an Echelon meter, but the University confirmed that Echelon meters were not part of the meters included in the report.
 

The University of Twente also informed NES, which was formed from the spinoff of Echelon Corporation’s Grid Modernization Division in 2014, that the University had tested an Echelon meter in a separate previous study by the University.  The Echelon meter tested correctly and accurately, and did not provide the accuracy errors associated with the meters in the well-publicized study.

“In the earlier study, an Echelon meter was also tested, and our testing results show that this is one of the most reliable meters,” said Prof. Frank Leferink from the University of Twente. “In our research, the Echelon meter kept its measurements comparable to the readings of the Ferraris meter.”

In response to the various articles, ESMIG, the European voice of the providers of smart energy solutions, issued a positon paper about the research. ESMIG and its members, which includes NES, announced that while it supports independent research studies, it believes that the study in question did not properly represent real world conditions. ESMIG’s position paper was meant to reassure policy makers, network operators, electricity suppliers and most importantly, European consumers, that the smart metering technology being deployed in Europe is robust, secure and accurate.

“The issue identified in the report is not specific to the measurement technology in a meter but rather how a vendor implements the technology. If designed properly, these types of conditions do not negatively impact the accuracy of meters,” said Andy Robinson, CTO of NES. "We have known about these conditions since 2008 and designed our meters accordingly. NES meters meet, and often surpass, the requirements of the testing standards under the EU Measuring Instruments Directive (MID), which ensure their accuracy, reliability, durability and safety."
 
About Networked Energy Services Corporation (NES)

Networked Energy Services Corporation is a global smart energy leader in the worldwide transformation of the electricity grid into an energy control network, enabling utilities to provide their customers with a more efficient and reliable service, to protect their systems from current and emerging cybersecurity threats, and to offer innovative new services that enable active, intelligence use of energy. NES was formed as a result of the spinoff of Echelon Corporation’s Grid Modernization Division in October 2014. NES is headquartered in the US with R&D centers located in Silicon Valley, North Dakota and Poland, and sales offices throughout the world. NES’ smart grid technology is used in nearly 40 million smart meters and other smart end devices around the world. NES is a member of the OSGP Alliance, a global association of utilities and smart grid companies, which promotes the Open Smart Grid Protocol and cooperates to provide utilities greater value by enabling true, independently-certified, multi-vendor interoperability based upon open international specifications and standards.  You can find out more information about NES, its Patagonia Energy Applications Platform^TM (including grid management software, distributed control nodes, and smart meters) and services at: www.networkedenergy.com.