Weighing choices from AMI to Zigbee to Wi-Fi and cellular

BY HOWARD NG, Comverge

The demand response industry is currently experiencing some of its greatest success currently in the marketplace. However, similar to all technologies that stand the test of time, demand response started somewhere different from where the technology is now. The communication protocols available for demand response participants and their respective utilities, in particular, have evolved significantly.

When advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) was introduced in the late 2000s, it was believed to be superior to the paging system. Utilities built demand response benefits into their Smart Grid business case base in hopes of quickening the metering process and working within a unified network.