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Itron and PG&E Collaborate to Enable Real-Time Control of Electric Vehicle Charging with Grid Edge Intelligence

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Innovative EV Connect Program Makes EV Charging More Accessible and Affordable for Customers

LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. and SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) are collaborating to make electric vehicle (EV) charging more accessible and affordable for PG&E’s customers.

As part of exploring ways to modernize its electric meter network, PG&E is working with Itron on a customer-focused pilot to develop and test the management of EV charging loads in real-time, with the goal of significantly lowering the barrier for customers to charge their EV at home by avoiding the need for costly customer electric panel and service upgrades.

“In collaboration with Itron and our EV solution providers, PG&E is working to give more of our customers access to faster charging at home through a safe and affordable alternative to panel and service upgrades. This solution makes EV adoption easier because customers can avoid out-of-pocket expenses and get faster Level 2 EV charging immediately, while keeping vehicle charging within safe grid limits,” said Mike Delaney, Vice President, Utility Partnerships and Innovation, PG&E.

Typically, a Level 2 EV charger requires a 200-amp service to the customer’s home. A Level 2 charger is up to 15 times faster than plugging into a standard wall outlet and allows drivers to fill an all-electric vehicle from empty overnight. If a customer has 100-amp service, which is the case for about half of the existing homes in PG&E’s service area, upgrading to a 200-amp panel and service can cost customers thousands of dollars and take months to complete.

Unlike typical cloud-only software-based integrations that exchange information only a few times a day, the EV Connect program is unique in that it uses distributed intelligence (DI) edge computing that operates on a customer’s electric meter directly. This on-meter application connects to, and coordinates with, the customer’s EV charger to keep charging within their panel and utility grid limits. The combined solution enables a customer to avoid the cost of panel and service upgrades while still being able to install and operate faster Level 2 EV charging at home.

The innovative EV Connect program is the first of its kind and combines elements of consumer engagement, advanced edge compute capabilities and broad industry collaboration to provide a cost-effective, consumer-friendly, secure end-to-end solution that increases access to electric vehicle charging for PG&E’s customers.

“The EV Connect collaboration with our longtime customer, PG&E, illustrates the possibilities of Itron’s Grid Edge Intelligence portfolio. The utility can deploy additional capabilities to its existing Itron communications network to enable intelligence at the grid edge and help end-use customers avoid the financial burden and wait time associated with upgrading service panels and residential service conductors,” said Don Reeves, senior vice president of Outcomes at Itron. “This is just one example of the possibilities for distributed energy resource management enabled by Itron’s technology platform. By deploying grid edge intelligence, we can help consumers and utilities avoid costly upgrades whatever the source of the demand, such as thermostats, water heaters, appliances, pool pumps, photovoltaic inverters and more.”

The initial scope of the EV Connect pilot program will support up to 1,000 residential customers who currently own or are considering purchasing an EV and have panel or service limitations that prevent them from installing a Level 2 EV charger at home. PG&E will replace customers’ existing electric SmartMeters™ with Itron Riva meters, enabling them to immediately install and utilize Level 2 chargers available within the program. PG&E and Itron plan to launch the new pilot offering in early 2025, with larger availability in the second half of 2025.

Depending on learnings and the success of the pilot program, PG&E will evaluate extending the program to be broadly available on an ongoing basis.

Itron is demonstrating the EV Connect application at PG&E’s 2024 Innovation Summit on Nov. 13, 2024 in San Jose.

Media can access videos, still photos and news releases from the Innovation Summit here: 2024 PG&E Innovation Summit – Multimedia Access Link

More details about the EV Connect program will be available on the PG&E website in early 2025.

About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than sixteen million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com and pge.com/news.  

About Itron
Itron is a proven global leader in energy, water, smart city, IIoT and intelligent infrastructure services. For utilities, cities and society, we build innovative systems, create new efficiencies, connect communities, encourage conservation and increase resourcefulness. By safeguarding our invaluable natural resources today and tomorrow, we improve the quality of life for people around the world. Join us: www.itron.com.

Itron and the Itron Logo are registered trademarks of Itron, Inc in the United States and other countries and regions. All third-party trademarks are property of their respective owners and any usage herein does not suggest or imply any relationship between Itron and the third party unless expressly stated.

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SOURCE Pacific Gas and Electric Company

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Judopay leaps across the pond, bringing its mobile payment services to North America.

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Judopay, the UK’s go-to mobile payments provider, is now making waves across the Atlantic. Backed by its powerful partner network, Judopay is bringing its seamless in-app and online services to the complex payment landscape of North America.

LONDON, Nov. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Judopay, the UK’s go-to mobile payments provider, is now making waves across the Atlantic. Backed by its powerful partner network, Judopay is bringing its seamless in-app and online services to the complex payment landscape of North America.

Joe Perry, Chief Customer Officer at Judopay, shared his excitement, “Our entry into this new market is about meeting the growing demand for seamless, mobile-first payments that breaks down geographical barriers. Something today’s consumers expect.”

This year alone, digital payments in North America are set to hit a staggering $3.3 trillion. Judopay’s expansion is set to enable its existing and prospective client base to tap into massive revenue opportunities and make a splash in a brand-new market.

Judopay’s connections will now make it even easier for merchants to go state-side. North America, once seen as lagging behind its European counterparts when it came to adopting digital payments, is catching up fast. The Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI) forecasted that by 2026, digital wallets will reach a 41% share of the ecommerce market (versus 39% in cards) with Apple Pay and Google Pay spearheading that growth. And now, Judopay’s mobile-first approach is stepping in to keep things moving smoothly.

Joe Perry, Chief Customer Officer at Judopay, shared his excitement, “North America is now steaming ahead when it comes to app and ecommerce, and we’re excited to dive in. Our entry into this new market is about meeting the growing demand for seamless, mobile-first payments that breaks down geographical barriers. Something today’s consumers expect.

We’re focused on helping our customers go global whilst bringing our game-changing tech and innovation to North American consumers. Hand-in-hand with our partner network, we’re simplifying the payment process for all.”

As part of its North American launch, Judopay is also actively partnering with software platforms across the retail, hospitality, and mobility industry, allowing them to add innovative payment technology to their core offering.

About Judopay:

Judopay is the UK’s leading mobile payments provider. Born out of the frustration with friction-filled checkouts, we built a flexible solution designed to securely drive sales and improve the customer experience. Now wholly owned by Fabrick S.p.A., part of the Banca Sella Group, Judopay is continually building ways to enhance the overall payment experience for merchants and customers alike. Available across multiple sectors, their solution is used by KFC, Uber subsidiary Autocab, PaybyPhone, Sigma Sports, BUPA, Hiscox, Foxtons and many more.

For more information about Judopay and its services, visit www.judopay.com.

Media Contact

Jessica Carroll, Judopay, 44 20 3503 0600, jessica.carroll@judopay.com, https://www.judopay.com/

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prweb.com/releases/judopay-leaps-across-the-pond-bringing-its-mobile-payment-services-to-north-america-302305466.html

SOURCE Judopay; Judopay

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Whatfix Recognized as a Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) Leader for the Fifth Consecutive Year and a Star Performer for the Third Year

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– 2024 PEAK Matrix® Assessment Features Whatfix as a Leader in the Inaugural Regional Reports for North America and Europe

– Strengthens Leadership Position with One of the Highest Scores in Buyer Satisfaction, Value Delivered, Market Presence, and AI Innovation

SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Whatfix, a global leader among digital adoption platforms (DAPs), today announced that the company has been recognized as a Leader for the fifth consecutive year and a Star Performer for the third year and second consecutive year in the Everest Group Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2024. Whatfix is also recognized as a Leader in the inaugural regional reports for North America and Europe in the DAP category. The Everest Group PEAK Matrix®, a trusted framework for assessing market impact, vision, and capabilities, evaluated 25 DAP software providers in its 2024 report, helping enterprises make well-informed purchasing decisions.

Whatfix has showcased remarkable capability and impact in the digital adoption landscape, achieving top scores in portfolio mix, value delivered, vision and strategy, implementations and support, and engagement and commercial model. Whatfix was selected as one of only three DAP technology providers to receive the “Leader” title based on an evaluation of its vision and capabilities as well as market impact, including value delivered to clients. The company was also one of only four Star Performers, achieving one of the highest scores for value delivered and buyer satisfaction. Its strong market presence, extensive lifecycle expertise, and advanced AI-driven innovations underscore Whatfix’s role in providing exceptional value to clients. This progress in the yearly recognition underscores Whatfix’s consistent industry leadership, impressive year-over-year growth, and unwavering commitment to driving innovation that is shaping the future of the DAP category.

“Whatfix’s deep expertise in driving digital adoption has been crucial to its success, as evidenced by its recognition as a Leader and Star Performer in the global Digital Adoption Platforms (DAP) PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2024,” says Sharath Hari N, Vice President at Everest Group. “This highlights Whatfix’s multi-product strategy, including advanced product analytics, which effectively addresses adoption challenges throughout the application lifecycle. Their extensive global reach allows them to serve a wide range of industries, while advancements in AI significantly enhance user experiences. The Rise 2 Excellence Partner Program further empowers partners to boost sales and customer success. With a continued focus on user experience and robust customer support, Whatfix is well-positioned to maintain its leadership in the rapidly evolving DAP market.”

Key factors contributing to Whatfix’s recognition include:

Multi-Product Strategy & Global Presence: Whatfix employs a multi-product strategy to effectively address adoption challenges throughout the entire application lifecycle. Its extensive global footprint enables the company to serve clients across a wide variety of industries. Whatfix has recorded the highest growth rate in DAP revenue, maintaining its market momentum and positioning itself among the top providers by market share in key industry verticals and regions.Expansion of the Product Suite: Whatfix is broadening its product offerings to target different aspects of an application lifecycle, including Mirror, its application simulation tool that provides a secure, hyper-realistic setting for users to practice and master new tools without affecting live systems. It also provides product analytics that encompasses both product and guidance analytics, as well as Enterprise Insights. The distinctive Ask Whatfix AI feature further sets it apart by translating natural language inquiries into insightful trend visualizations, simplifying the decision-making process. To enhance collaboration among content creators, it has introduced Comments, allowing users to tag colleagues and share links to pages. Whatfix supports a robust content lifecycle management system, offering various environments for creating and testing walkthroughs before publication. It has implemented visibility rules within the editor that allow precise control over when, where, and to whom the content is displayed, enhancing the overall user experience through behavioral targeting informed by product analytics.AI & GenAI-Driven Enhancements: As a leader in AI advancements, Whatfix utilizes AI and GenAI to improve its product functionalities, such as generating summarized responses to user queries, auto-filling text fields, elaborating text, and delivering real-time insights into user satisfaction through survey analysis.Dual Data Center Disaster Recovery for Seamless Operations: Whatfix is distinguished by its strong disaster recovery capabilities, operating two identical data center infrastructures simultaneously. In the event of a disruption in one data center, the other takes over seamlessly, guaranteeing zero downtime and uninterrupted operations. Organizations with data security and privacy concerns will appreciate Whatfix’s flexible deployment options, which include on-premises, private cloud, and hybrid hosting solutions.Commitment to Customer Satisfaction and User Support: Whatfix is consistently recognized for its responsive customer service, comprehensive platform functionalities, and valuable analytics, with clients highlighting these as primary strengths. The company achieved one of the highest scores for buyer satisfaction and value delivered in 2023. Its robust support for mobile and desktop applications, including virtual desktop solutions on Citrix, differentiates it in the market.

“Our continued recognition by Everest Group reaffirms Whatfix’s position as a leader in the DAP space. Our customer-first approach and relentless focus on innovation beyond DAP has enabled us to deliver unparalleled value to global enterprises worldwide,” said Khadim Batti, CEO and co-founder of Whatfix. “We’re proud to offer a solution that empowers organizations to drive user adoption, maximize their technology investments and enhance user productivity.”

This recognition comes on the heels of Whatfix’s recent $125 million Series E funding, which is driving the company’s efforts to enhance its integrated product suite beyond DAP through both organic growth and strategic acquisitions. With this momentum, Whatfix will further solidify its market presence in the US, EMEA, and APAC regions, expand into the Middle East, and strengthen its position within the global public sector.

Click here to read the Everest Group Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2024.

About Whatfix
Whatfix is advancing the “userization” of application technology, by empowering companies to maximize the ROI of digital investments across the application lifecycle. Powered by GenAI, Whatfix’s product suite includes a digital adoption platform, simulated application environments for hands-on training, and no-code application analytics. Whatfix enables organizations to drive user productivity, ensure process compliance, and improve user experience of internal and customer-facing applications. With seven offices across the US, India, UK, Germany, Singapore, and Australia, Whatfix supports 700+ enterprises, including 80+ Fortune 500s like Shell, Microsoft, Schneider Electric, UPS Supply Chain Solutions, and Genuine Parts Company. Backed by investors such as Warburg Pincus, Softbank Vision Fund 2, Dragoneer, Peak XV Partners, Eight Roads, and Cisco Investments, software clicks with Whatfix. For more information, visit the Whatfix website.

Media Contact
whatfix@luminapr.com

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SOURCE Whatfix

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Sonepar’s North American Expansion Brings over $2B in Additional Revenue

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Acquisition growth in 2024 includes 7 companies, 1700 new associates and 89 new branches

CHARLESTON, S.C., Nov. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — 2024 has been a transformative year for Sonepar as it continues to focus on strategic growth. Since 2021, Sonepar has closed 21 acquisitions in North America. The acquisition growth alone in 2024 consists of seven companies representing over $2B in additional revenue, approximately 1,700 new associates, and 89 new branches. Sonepar’s North American acquisition strategy is key to the global success of the Sonepar Group.

Sonepar’s mission is to continue as the strongest and most dynamic electrical distribution network across the entirety of North America. It seeks to combine local sales excellence with significant regional and global investments and capabilities to provide customers with the best distribution experience and associates with the most opportunities to succeed.

Philippe Delpech, President & CEO of Sonepar, commented:

North America is our largest market, where Sonepar leads in building and industrial verticals serving customers with a best-in-class level of service. With 36 billion dollars in sales in 2023, Sonepar is the world leader in B2B electrical distribution of products and services, deploying a global automated supply chain and a proprietary omnichannel digital platform called Spark. Today, the USA is leading in size, processes, technology, and workforce quality. We welcome the more than 1,700 associates who joined the Sonepar family through these seven acquisitions and are already working on combining our strengths for the benefit of customers, suppliers and associates.”

Rob Taylor, President of Sonepar Americas, said:

“Each acquisition is carefully considered, and we look to partner with the best local and regional distributors, which share our values and desire to grow. We truly believe that acquisitions are a strategic partnership that benefits all parties. We work closely with the leadership of companies we engage with to understand what makes them a success, with the goal of enhancing the local go-to-market approach and culture with significant investment and new capabilities. This strategy will continue to be an important focus for Sonepar across the Americas.”

The statistics regarding Sonepar’s investments in North America are striking. Sonepar has added numerous automated distribution centers and significantly increased its density branch network, now serving every province, territory and state in North America out of 548 total branches. It has also added new service offerings like panel shop design and assembly capabilities, and expanded expertise and product offerings in the solar and EV, industrial, broadband and utility segments. Sonepar’s digital solutions such as Spark and the Digital Job Center are best-in-class, offering customers a seamless digital experience.

Sonepar will continue to grow organically and through acquisitions and make significant investments across its entire business.

About Sonepar

Sonepar is an independent family-owned company standing as the world leader in B-to-B distribution of electrical equipment, solutions, and services. In 2023, Sonepar achieved global sales of $36 billion.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sonepars-north-american-expansion-brings-over-2b-in-additional-revenue-302305127.html

SOURCE Sonepar

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