Electric Vehicle

S&C Community Energy Storage Chosen for AEP’s gridSMART(SM) Ohio Project

The AEP Ohio gridSMART Demonstration Project will be deployed to 110,000 AEP Ohio customers in northeast central Ohio and will integrate a broad range of advanced technologies in the distribution grid, utility back office, and consumer premises with innovative consumer programs to comprehensively demonstrate smart grid impacts for consumers and the utility.

"We congratulate AEP on this win and are thrilled to be a part of AEP’s gridSMART(SM) initiative with our Community Energy Storage System," said John Estey, president and CEO, S&C. "We’re committed to transforming the delivery infrastructure that will power the intelligent grid in the digital age, and CES is one more step toward that goal."

S&C’s first-of-its-kind Community Energy Storage System that will be deployed to certain AEP circuits will provide the utility and its customers many benefits including:

Improved distribution line efficiencies to reduce power losses – a major goal for the smart grid. Reliable, local back-up power for customers in case of outages. Integration of community renewable power resources. Support for plug-in electric vehicles deployment, which reduces peak power demands on the grid due to charging and offers a "green" alternative by reusing increasingly popular electric car batteries.

S&C’s Community Energy Storage System furthers S&C’s ability to integrate stored energy that will be required to create a true smart grid. Energy storage accounts for $185 million of the $600 million recently awarded by the DOE for Smart Grid Demonstration Projects. These awards will help fund utility-scale energy storage projects that will enhance the reliability and efficiency of the grid, while reducing the need for new electricity plants. 

S&C, headquartered in Chicago, IL, is applying its heritage of innovation to address challenges facing the world’s power grids and thus shaping the future of reliable electricity delivery. The mission of employee-owned S&C is to continually develop new solutions for electricity delivery, fostering the improved efficiency and reliability required for the intelligent grid. Additional information about S&C is available at www.sandc.com/sgaep.