CenterPoint has deployed BPL to 45,000 electric and gas customers in its Houston service territory. The deployment is part of an overall Advanced Metering System (AMS) that CenterPoint Energy proposed to deploy to 250,000 homes and businesses over a three year period. Don’t miss this great opportunity to see BPL in action with other smart grid technologies.

NOTE: A reserved seat for the CenterPoint Demo is required.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to renew old acquaintances and make new ones at this informal gathering of all Broadband Power Line 2008 attendees.

Hosted by the UPLC Board of Directors.

NOTE: Program will be held in roundtable format with speakers serving discussion leaders allowing for participation by all attendees.

The UPLC Chair will provide opening remarks regarding the current state of the BPL industry and the utility industry, and will outline a roadmap for the coming year and lead the morning’s discussion on the two driving applications for BPL – smart grids and community broadband networks.

Ray Blair, Technology Co-Chair, Board of Directors; Vice President – BPL Initiatives, IBM

This discussion will examine the opportunities and challenges for deploying BPL for smart-grid applications. The discussion will begin with two presentations by two of the leading providers of BPL smart grid applications.

Dave Zabetakis, Senior Vice President- Business Development, CURRENT Group Sam Morovati, Vice President, Strategic Sales, Corinex Communications

This discussion will examine the business opportunity for using BPL to offer commercial services. During this discussion you will gain first-hand experience from companies that are deploying BPL to provide broadband services to in-building and rural markets.

Steve Turner, COO, International Broadband Electric Communications
Teejay Riedl, Sr. Product Manager & Corporate Training Manager, Telkonet

This discussion will set the stage by addressing the current state of federal and state policies that are impacting BPL. In addition, the discussion leaders will identify potential opportunities for regulatory advancement of BPL through upcoming legislation and regulations.

Brett Kilbourne, Director- Regulatory Services & Associate Counsel, Utilities Telecom Council

This discussion will feature look at where BPL technology is headed and what improvements in both access- and in home-BPL can be expected and when. BPL technology experts will lead the discussion that will be open for all attendees to contribute.

Chano Gomez, Vice President- Technology & Strategic Partnership, DS2  Rob Ranck, President, HomePlug Power Alliance
Mike Stelts, President, CEPCA

This discussion will provide an overview of where a wide variety of BPL standards stand in development and then focus on those impacting coexistence and interoperability between in home and Access BPL systems as part of IEEE’s P1901 Working Group. Even if utilities have no immediate plans to deploy BPL, the IEEE standards could effectively preclude any BPL deployment by utilities for broadband access or Advanced Metering / Smart Grid applications. UPLC will use this discussion to determine:

1. What kinds of changes are necessary to make the BPL standard coexist without harm to electric company smart metering / smart grid applications?

2. How the UPLC representative at the IEEE meeting in September should vote on anticipated issues?

The BPL Standards Roundtable discussion will be led by key industry BPL standards experts.

Brett Kilbourne, Director- Regulatory Services & Associate Counsel, Utilities Telecom Council
Rob Ranck, President, HomePlug Power Alliance
Stefano Galli, Lead Scientist, Panasonic R&D Company of America (PRDCA) Chano Gomez, Vice President- Technology & Strategic Partnership, DS2

Two prominent utilities have launched aggressive plans to deploy a variety of smart metering / smart grid technologies – including BPL. This discussion will begin with presentations on Xcel Energy’s Smart Grid City project and CenterPoint Energy’s Intelligent Grid project. These presenters will then lead a discussion on what makes these projects successful and the present and future of role of BPL in smart metering / smart grid projects.

Dave Zabetakis, Senior Vice President- Business Development, CURRENT Group

Broadband Power Line 2008 will wrap up with a discussion about what more UPLC can do to further educate and advance the business opportunities for utilities and their technology partners with BPL.

Ray Blair, Vice President – BPL Initiatives, IBM Corporation
Brett Kilbourne, Director- Regulatory Services & Associate Counsel, Utilities Telecom Council