Alstom Grids Distribution Management System selected by Snohomish County Public Utility District in the USA

Alstom Grid, the global expert in electric grid performance, has been chosen by Snohomish County Public Utility District (Snohomish PUD) in Washington State (USA) to help them enhance their grid efficiency and reliability. Integration of Alstoms e-terradistribution * (for Distribution Management System DMS) with their existing SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) and Energy Management System (EMS), also provided by Alstom, will be the utilitys first step in a full-scale deployment of smart distribution automation technologies and integration of green energy sources into the US grid.

Snohomish PUD is a leader in research and development for integration of clean energy resources. The second largest publicly-owned utility in Washington state and 12th in the USA, Snohomish PUD provides electricity to over 320,000 customers in the Pacific Northwest. Snohomish PUD is one of the recipients of a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). They have used it toward a major smart grid technology upgrade, to create a stronger, more efficient and reliable electrical system.

Alstoms e-terradistribution solution will help to provide improved customer satisfaction through enhanced fault location, isolation and service restoration, while also enabling the adoption of green energy sources, community energy storage and plug-in electric vehicles.

Alstom Grid has been a trusted partner for many years. They share our strategy of providing a reliable, efficient, and safe grid, said Chris Heimgartner, Assistant General Manager, Distribution and Engineering Services at Snohomish County PUD. Alstoms integrated DMS and EMS systems will give our dispatchers increased visibility into our network and will provide them with the timely detailed information they need to reduce the impact of outages on our customers, Chris Heimgartner continued.

e-terradistributiongives Snohomish PUD the flexibility it needs to integrate renewable resources and new smart grid technologies as they become available, said Karim El Naggar, Vice President, Network Management Solutions, Alstom Grid. As the rate of end-user adoption of smart grid technologies increases and become available, our Smart Distribution System will allow the utility to add the necessary functionality easily and reliably. e-terradistribution will optimize the network to improve energy efficiency and security of the network and reduce outages, energy losses, equipment maintenance and operational costs.

The first phase of this project is scheduled to be operational in 2012.

* e-terradistribution is a suite of software applications that has been developed to meet the operational needs of electric distribution utilities.

About Alstom

Alstom is a global leader in the world of power generation, power transmission and rail infrastructure and sets the benchmark for innovative and environmentally friendly technologies. Alstom builds the fastest train and the highest capacity automated metro in the world. It provides turnkey integrated power plant solutions and associated services for a wide variety of energy sources, including hydro, nuclear, gas, coal and wind, and it offers a wide range of solutions for power transmission, with a focus on smart grids.

The Group employs 92,700 people in 100 countries and had sales of 20.9 billion in 2010/11.

Alstom Grid has over 100 years of expertise in electrical grids. Whether for utilities or electro-intensive industries or facilitating the trading of energy, Alstom Grid brings power to its customers projects. Alstom Grid ranks among the top 3 in electrical transmission sector with an annual sales turnover of more than 4 billion. It has 20,000 employees and over 90 manufacturing and engineering sites worldwide.

At the heart of the development of Smart Grid, Alstom Grid offers products, services and integrated energy management solutions across the full energy value chainfrom power generation, through transmission and distribution grids and to the large end user.

Press contacts

Emmanuelle Helleux: emmanuelle.helleux@alstom.com / Tel: +33 1 49 01 70 87

Aline Besselièvre: aline.besselievre@alstom.com / Tel: + 33 1 49 01 69 04

Gayle Wooster (Alstom Grid US): gayle.wooster@alstom.com / Tel : +1 425 250 2723

Website: www.alstom.com - www.alstom.com/grid