Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative serves nearly 80,000 meters and owns and maintains about 11,000 miles of power lines, located across more than 3,800 square miles within 14 southeastern Texas counties. Bluebonnet’s service area stretches from Travis County to Washington County and from Milam County down to Gonzales County. In December 2009, Bluebonnet awarded a contract to Siemens for purchase and implementation of a combined Energy IP and Energy Engage platform. eMeter is assisting in the implementation of the project as a subcontractor to Siemens.

The initial phase of the rollout focuses on offering Energy Engage to their entire member base as the centerpiece of their members’ online experience. The energy portal will be configured to present coop members costs, usage, and environmental impact information and will be seamlessly integrated into their existing web site.

Providing their member base with timely feedback translating electrical consumption into its cost and impact provides Bluebonnet a critical tool used to encourage conservation and peak-load reduction. In addition to presenting daily data, the coop will use Energy Engage to project each member’s next bill based on usage patterns and notify members of their electrical use through email and SMS alerts.

Subsequent phases of the rollout will include full transition away to Energy IP as the Meter Data Management system of record for the coop’s new AMI system. Bluebonnet intends to leverage Energy IP modules such as VEE and Billing. After implementing EIP, Bluebonnet will have flexibility to introduce rate structures geared towards load shifting objectives.

The combination of a compelling communication platform with a best of breed Meter Data Management platform makes the eMeter product line a foundation of Bluebonnet’s smart grid goal of 20% load reduction by 2020.