Georgia Power’s Smart Neighborhood Initiative has been recognized by the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) as part of its annual awards that celebrate innovation and collaboration of utilities, industry players and individuals shaping the future of energy. The initiative was included in Southern Company’s designation as a 2020 SEPA Utility Business Models Power Player of the Year.

“We are proud to be recognized as the 2020 SEPA Utility Business Models Power Player of the Year,” said Nicole Faulk, senior vice president of Corporate and Customer Services for Georgia Power. “This award recognizes our commitment to innovation, research and development. It is a testament to all of the employees involved in our Smart Neighborhood initiative as well as our continued focus on meeting customers’ current and future energy needs through cutting-edge research and technology.”

The 2020 SEPA Utility Business Models Power Player of the Year award recognizes unique innovation and leadership in efforts to create new utility business models that advance the adoption of clean energy resources and help to achieve carbon reduction and clean energy goals.

Georgia Power has been a leader in Smart Home innovation, helping bring new technologies to homebuilding in the state. The company’s Smart Neighborhood™ initiative provides customers with state-of-the-art home construction, distributed energy resources including solar, battery energy storage and smart home appliances and technologies. Southern Company was recognized by SEPA for its Smart Neighborhood initiatives. Georgia Power is a wholly owned subsidiary of Southern Company. 

Georgia Power’s Smart Neighborhood

Georgia’s first-of-a-kind Smart Neighborhood, located in Atlanta, includes 46 technology-enhanced townhomes in the Georgia Power Smart Neighborhood developed at Altus at the Quarter. Each home is served by Georgia Power and supplemented by rooftop solar installations and in-home battery energy storage. 

Homeowners in these innovative homes will see improved reliability, increased use of distributed energy resources and lower costs. These homes are also equipped with the latest energy technologies such as optimal insulation for maximum efficiency, advanced heating and cooling systems and LED lighting. They feature home automation, including smart thermostats, smart locks and voice control. 

The Smart Neighborhood is a real-world research and development (R&D) project, including a supporting partnership with the Southern Company Energy Innovation Center. The company collaborated with U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Electric Power Research Institute on the initiatives. The information and data collected from the distributed energy resources will provide researchers valuable operational experience as the company continues to evaluate microgrids along with residential battery storage and rooftop solar. Information from the HVAC systems, heat pump water heaters and other technologies will help inform new programs and services for customers.            

To learn more about the Georgia Power Smart Neighborhood, visit www.georgiapower.com/smartneighborhood. To learn more about SEPA, visit www.sepapower.org. To watch the 2020 SEPA Utility Business Models Power Player of the Year Video, visithttps://youtu.be/AR0Rj3Nvna4, 

Georgia Power also offers a full suite of smart-home options, which includes easy access to products and services to help make customers’ homes more energy efficient and connected. The company brings together popular products in the Smart Neighborhood, including the latest in smart thermostats and smart home products such as smart filters, lighting, door locks, light switches, vents, smoke alarms and doorbells, to a single convenient online portal on Georgia Power Marketplace.

Georgia Power’s Smart Initiatives

In addition to smart neighborhoods, Georgia Power’s smart initiatives include electric vehicle charging infrastructure to make electric transportation use in cars and buses convenient, battery energy storage that maximizes the value of renewable energy, digital security technologies to help make communities safer, microgrids that leverage smart energy management systems, and smart meters that provide greater insight to customers’ real time use, help reduce outage times and more.  

Georgia Power’s state-of-the-art automation solutions are also featured in the Curiosity Lab in Peachtree Corners, Georgia. The new living laboratory, a 1.5-mile intelligent mobility and smart city laboratory, is the first of its kind in the country. The one-of-a-kind facility will offer a unique opportunity for testing to be done in a 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) environment that includes interaction with real-world vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The Curiosity Lab reinforces the company’s commitment to research and development and provides another way to continue growing smart solutions that benefit customers across the state.