Wireless Telephone Company Moves into Energy Management Sector

July 30, 2018

By Paul Eitmant

In another first, Sprint moves into the energy management sector with an open protocol company. We should all pay attention to this type movement within our industry. The question is how is your company addressing this type of shift in the market place.

Sprint announced that the award-winning Sprint Magic Box is slated for deployment in approximately 100 City of Pittsburgh buildings to provide connectivity for the nation’s first fully integrated energy savings as a service initiative. 

Boss Controls, an IoT energy management company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has received the intent to award contract from the City of Pittsburgh. It is collaborating with Sprint and the city’s Sustainability and Resilience Division, Facilities Bureau, and the Department of Innovation and Performance and other companies to provide immediate energy savings for city buildings, making Pittsburgh a national model for clean energy innovation. 

Sprint Magic Box, which offers improved data coverage and faster download and upload speeds, and Sprint LTE modems with Wi-Fi, will connect Boss Smart Plugs installed in the City of Pittsburgh buildings. The Boss Smart Plugs can be added to any electrical device that simply needs to be scheduled off when the buildings are unoccupied, ultimately netting meaningful cost savings and granting the city a reduced carbon footprint.

“This is a great example of how Sprint Magic Box is making a difference for our customers with a data connectivity solution that’s so simple to use,” says Scott Santi, Head of Network Deployment & Operations at Sprint.  

Sprint Magic Box is the world’s first all-wireless small cell, which improves data coverage and increases download and upload speeds on average by 200%. This low cost, self-configuring small cell provides indoor coverage averaging up to 30,000 square feet, but its signal also extends data coverage to Sprint customers in nearby businesses. As part of its Next-Gen Network investment, Sprint is deifying its network by deploying more small cells — including Sprint Magic Boxes — to improve coverage, reliability and speed for consumers and businesses in cities across the country. 

Boss’s revolutionary service provides immediate energy savings for all of the city’s buildings at the plug load and enables demand response load shedding to reduce peak demand for the electrical grid, while also reducing pollution. In the near future, this service, which requires no upfront costs from the building owners, will be available to Duquesne Light’s customers, and other utilities and their customers across the country.

“We are very fortunate to have great innovative leaders and forward-looking organizations as we do in Mayor Peduto and the City of Pittsburgh, Direct Energy Business, Sprint and Duquesne Light,” says Greg Puschnigg, CEO/Founder of Boss Controls. “What we are doing today is forever changing the electric utility business model across the world, saving on costs, reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and creating many new energy technology jobs. We are proud to be the first to launch Energy Savings as a Service controlling energy down to the plug load.

”Connectivity for the Boss Smart Plugs that will be installed in the City of Pittsburgh buildings will use Sprint’s Magic Box and LTE modems with WiFi to connect the plugs. The Boss Smart Plugs can be added to any electrical devices that simply need to be scheduled off when the buildings are unoccupied, ultimately netting meaningful cost savings and granting the city a reduced carbon footprint.

Duquesne Light Company has designed a rebate amount to be offered to the City of Pittsburgh as a pilot program for the implementation of BOSS Controls citywide. This rebate will be offered through the Duquesne Light Watt Choices Program.

“Mayor Peduto is in full support of our new energy savings initiative, and we are prepared for a citywide deployment that will generate significant savings and rebate,” says Puschnigg. “City buildings can and should achieve large and rapid energy savings without any upfront costs through our new Energy Savings as a Service.

”Paul Eitmant is President and CEO of IP Group International, which serves the needs of business-to-business enterprises in over 30 countries worldwide by adding specialized expertise to the business planning and implementation process; Tel: 480.488.5646; paulipgroup@cox.net.