Utilities receive a vast amount of data each year from millions of smart meters, a variety of data sensors, and other external sources. Smart meter analytics provide unified visualization and insights on the enterprise, grid, and environmental data to enhance operational efficiencies and revenues. Meter data analytics solutions have been around for a while with applications only in historical data analysis and billing. With the arrival of smart meters that bring massive amounts of data in their wake, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions and big data platforms are more appropriate solutions to leverage the insights hidden in these data repositories. This paper examines the business benefits that smart meter analytics brings to utilities, the various analytics solutions available, and recommends the most cost-effective and scalable solution for the current ecosystem.
