Artificial intelligence has had increased demand in many sectors as its popularity continues to grow. The newest need for artificial intelligence is with electricity and its demand as stay-at-home orders remain through May.
The strain has also been felt for internet service providers, streaming platforms, and online retailers. But utilities supplying power for the nation are getting hit the hardest.
The U.S. electricity was 3% lower on March 27, 2020, than it was the year before, showing a loss of about three years of sale growth. According to Wood Mackenzie, a research firm, the rise in household electricity for the current state of the nation won’t offset the lack of business electricity demand. The reason for this is because household demand only makes up 40% of total demand across the U.S.
Utilities are employing AI and machine learning to monitor the changes in energy usage resulting from COVID-19. Very precise load forecasting will help with preventing blackouts and brownouts, making sure households can run efficiently while residents are home.
Companies like Innowatts and Autogrid are using AI to monitor and manage energy being used across the U.S. According to an article by VentureBeat Innowatts eUtility platform, “ingests data from over 34 million smart energy meters across 21 million customers in more than 13 regional energy markets, while its machine learning algorithms analyze the data to forecast short and long-term loads, variances, weather sensitivity, and more.”
Innowatts saw very apparent shifts in energy usage between the first and last week of March. Non-essential businesses and restaurants were using less energy toward the end of March. The AI tools can track peaks and dips to make timely adjustments and create strategies for their consumers.
VentureBeats also talked to Autogrid, which has an AI platform that, “makes 10 million predictions every 10 minutes and optimizes over 50 megawatts of power, which is enough to supply the average suburb.” Autogrid delivers AI informed power usage insights for their customers across the globe.
Even though companies and experts can’t fully predict every aspect of how things will play out, these tools are helping adjust daily and weekly power load profiles. People are continuing to work remotely and stay home, which will impact the daily load curve. Artificial intelligence will help with maintenance, performance, and diagnostics within homes and buildings.
Artificial intelligence has made its way through many sectors and has had an unmatched impact on how businesses are run in this digital age. This seems to only be the beginning!
As always, stay safe and healthy!
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