BALLSTON LAKE, NY /BUSINESS WIRE/ -- Sixnet, a Red Lion business and leading provider of industrial networking solutions, announced that its IndustrialPro cellular routers are being used by Black Hills Power to provide wireless backhaul connectivity for the company's secure Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) project. The AMI collects data from smart meters at more than 69,000 customer sites over a 3G cellular network, allowing Black Hills to remotely monitor energy consumption and maximize power availability.
"Sixnet's industrial wireless routers combined with our SixView Manager software make it easy to install, configure, and monitor remote units so that organizations can proactively utilize 3G networks for innovative applications such as smart meters."
"Previously, we checked electric meters manually, which was a time-consuming process that involved a great deal of driving and home visits," said Rick Dobbe, Communications Engineer at Black Hills Power. "The security, performance, and reliability of Sixnet's rugged cellular routers give us real-time access to data so that we can remotely monitor energy use, outage and restoration notifications, and alarms over our Verizon 3G network, helping us to conserve costs while increasing productivity."
Black Hills Power provides safe, reliable service to 69,000 residential and commercial customers in 25 communities in western South Dakota, southeastern Montana, and northeastern Wyoming. Black Hills' AMI initiative, which began installing smart meters in customer homes in June 2010, is a smart grid project that contributes to the national goal of building an intelligent grid to serve the public interest and conserve energy.
Sixnet's IndustrialPro routers provide secure, cost-effective cellular connectivity to remote locations and devices, such as meters, sensors, or RTUs in industrial environments. The IndustrialPro routers used by Black Hills Power are managed by Sixnet's SixView Manager, which enables remote management, configuration, and monitoring of multiple devices from a single console.
"The Black Hills Power AMI program is an ambitious project that required a wireless solution that was not only secure and reliable, but also easy to deploy," said Scott Killian, Director of Sales for Sixnet/Red Lion. "Sixnet's industrial wireless routers combined with our SixView Manager software make it easy to install, configure, and monitor remote units so that organizations can proactively utilize 3G networks for innovative applications such as smart meters."
To learn more about Sixnet products and services, please email [email protected].
About Black Hills Power
Black Hills Power is the legacy utility business of Black Hills Corp. and has been delivering energy for more than 128 years. The electric utility serves 69,000 customers in 25 communities in western South Dakota, northeastern Wyoming, and southeastern Montana. Black Hills Corp., a diversified energy company with a tradition of exemplary service and a vision to be the energy partner of choice, is based in Rapid City, SD, with corporate offices in Denver and Papillion, NE. Black Hills Corp. serves 762,000 natural gas and electric utility customers in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming, and its nonregulated businesses generate wholesale electricity; produce natural gas, oil, and coal; and market energy. Black Hills' 2100 employees partner to produce results that improve life with energy.
About TESSCO
TESSCO Technologies is Your Total Source to build, use, and maintain wireless systems. The convergence of wireless and the Internet is revolutionizing the way we live and work. New systems and applications are unlocking human potential at an unprecedented rate. TESSCO is there, thinking in new ways for exceptional outcomes. TESSCO architects and delivers, with innovation, productivity, and speed, the product and value chain solutions to organizations responsible for building, operating, and maintaining wireless voice, data, and video systems.
About Sixnet
Sixnet, a Red Lion business, provides innovative machine-to-machine industrial networking solutions that integrate wireless, automation, and switching technologies to better serve customers and markets worldwide. Sixnet's flexible solutions enable organizations to cost-effectively increase business productivity. By integrating powerful enterprise-class networking with rugged reliability, Sixnet meets the standards of the most demanding applications in industries such as power and energy, banking and retail, transportation, video and security, utilities, military, mobile data, maritime, and more. Based in Ballston Lake, NY, the company has offices across North America, Asia, and Europe.
About Red Lion Controls
Red Lion Controls, an internationally based manufacturer of a range of control devices, got its start in a garage in 1972, and now boasts three offices across the world as part of Spectris plc. Red Lion Controls has built a strong reputation in several product areas, including human-machine interface, process measurement and control, and digital measurement and control. Red Lion has a complete family of quality- and value-oriented products to serve the needs of our international customer base. In addition to world headquarters in York, PA, Red Lion has sales offices in Europe and Asia.