Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative (DETEC), a transmission and distribution electric cooperative,  has selected Tantalus to provide advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) functionality for the approximately 40,000 meters on their system.

Officials with Tantalus said that the new infrastructure will replace an aging, one-way automated meter reading (AMR) system.

Company officials said that the Tantalus system is expected to be fully operational within the next three years.

“After a thorough investigation of our system infrastructure requirements, desired AMI functionality and project cost we have selected the Tantalus system for implementation,” said Doug Turk, director of operations, DETEC in a statement.

“We’ve spoken with several of Tantalus’ clients across the nation and all of the feedback was positive.  That’s not something that we found with the other available vendors. In the end, we anticipate a highly successful project that will greatly facilitate our future operations,” said Turk.

Company officials said that the deployment will provide DETEC with an accurate and timely reading for every meter, incorporate remote disconnection of delinquent accounts and allow for accurate, small increment remote monitoring of voltage.

Tantalus is currently engaged in a strategic partnership with Texas Electric Cooperatives (TEC), a state-wide association representing the interests of 65 electric distribution cooperatives and nine generation and transmission cooperatives across Texas.

The alliance with Tantalus enables TEC to offer its member cooperatives support for both wired and wireless platforms for implementing the energy-efficient and cost-saving attributes of smart grid technology.

According to company officials, the DETEC installation marks the fourth Texas utility to select Tantalus for a smart grid communications system.

“Given DETEC’s rugged terrain and rural customer base, the cooperative has unique Smart Grid communications needs,” said Eric Murray, president and CEO of Tantalus.

Murray said that Tantalus delivers the strongest connectivity and most thorough communications coverage in the industry, and the company look forward to putting its technology to work for DETEC.

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