Enabling and empowering energy managers through increased information and control
The purpose of this project is to develop and to implement an energy hub management system that will allow static energy users to manage effectively their energy requirements.
More specifically, this project will empower energy hubs – that is, individual locations that require energy (e.g., manufacturing facilities, farms, retail stores, detached houses) – so that they can contribute to the development of a sustainable society through the real-time management of their energy demand, production, storage and resulting import or export of energy.
The energy hub management system is funded by the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) and industry partners (as listed below) in the amount of $2.45 million over a five-year study period which began in April 2008. Led by the University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ, project participants include Hydro One Networks Incorporated (Toronto), Energent Incorporated (À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ), Milton Hydro Distribution Incorporated (Milton) and the Ontario Power Authority.
Additionally, the energy hub management system project wishes to gratefully acknowledge the support of , , and in the development of pilots for the project.
Project news and updates
January, 2013
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An article entitled 'Developing Smart Tools for Householders: Making the Smart Grid Work (.pdf)' -- outlining some of the project's work with the goal-setting tool -- was the lead article in the January 2013 edition of .
October, 2012
- Some team members gathered at a pilot participant's home in Milton, Ontario to discuss the project.
Left to right: Frank Lasowksi (President and CEO, Milton Hydro), Gord Ellis (CTO, Energent), Ian Rowlands (Professor, University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ), and Deep Mehta (Milton homeowner).
August, 2012
- PhD student Sumit Paudyal successfully defended his PhD thesis, entitled, ''.
June, 2012
- Julia Shulist presented her work at McMaster's Conference entitled, 'Conservation and Demand Management in a Sustainable Energy Future'. Her poster was entitled, ''.
May, 2012
- Visit the Energy Hub Management System booth at on 14 and 15 May at Booth 330.
March, 2012
- .
February, 2012
- Amanda San Filippo successfully defended her Masters of Environmental Studies (MES) thesis entitled, ''.
December, 2011
- Project members participated in the Behavior, Energy and Climate Change Conference in Washington, DC. Christina Hoicka presented a poster, and Ian Rowlands delivered a presentation (.pdf).
September, 2011
- Eric Mallia successfully defended his MES thesis entitled, 'Exploring householders’ interest in home energy goal-setting (.pdf)'.
August, 2011
- Mohammad Chehreghani Bozchalui successfully completed his PhD in Electrical and Computing Engineering. The abstract for his thesis, entitled '', will be available soon.
July, 2011
- See an interview with Energent's Craig Haney, as he describes some of our work - go to '' (13 June 2011).
- Mohammad Chehreghani Bozchalui, a PhD student in Electrical and Computing Engineering on the project, received a Student Award from – Canada’s only Network of Centres of Excellence for the mathematical sciences, which brings together academia, industry and the public sector to develop cutting edge mathematical tools vital to the knowledge-based economy. Mohammad will receive his award at the 2011 in Vancouver on 21 July 2011. Congratulations, Mohammad!
June, 2011
- The poster that Sumit Paudyal will present at the 2011 in Detroit on 25 July 2011, entitled 'Three-phase distribution optimal power flow (OPF) in Smart Grids (.pdf)', is available for viewing.
May, 2011
- On 18 and 19 May 2011, visit the Energent booth at to get more information about the Energy Hub Management System.
- On 10 May 2011, Ian Rowlands is scheduled to present at the .
- On 2 May 2011, Ian Rowlands and Claudio Canizares reported on the Energy Hub Management System to the . .
April, 2011
- Energent CEO, Chris Reid, has published an article entitled , in which he references the Energy Hub Management System project.
- The posters that Mohammed Chehreghani (July 2009) and Sumit Paudyal (July 2010) presented are now available on-line. Go to the respective dates, below, and click where indicated.
March, 2011
- Eric Mallia – a second year Master's student in Environment and Resource Studies at UÀ¶Ý®ÊÓƵ working on the project – won the award for best poster at the University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ’s 3rd Annual Student Colloquium on Climate Change. Held on 10 and 11 March 2011, Eric’s poster was entitled ‘Exploring Home Electricity Management Strategies as a Climate Change Mitigation Option’. Find out more information about the Colloquium.
October, 2010
- As part of the activities associated with the opening of the University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ’s Energy Research Centre and the appointment of project member Professor Claudio Canizares as the inaugural Hydro One Endowed Chair, a number of posters reporting upon the project’s work were presented.
July, 2010
- Sumit Paudyal presented some of his work at the IEEE-PES General Meeting (Minneapolis, MN, July 2010). View Sumit's poster (.pdf).
June, 2010
- Christina Hoicka presented a poster entitled '"Smart" Industrial, Commercial and Institutional Consumers in Smart Grids: Identifying Models of Information Use and Communication' at the (University of Warwick, UK, June 2010).
May, 2010
- In May 2010, Mary Beth Deline successfully defended her MES thesis entitled ‘Keeping up with the Joneses: electricity consumption, publicity and social network influence in Milton, Ontario (.pdf)'.
- Sumit Paudyal presented some of his work in a session entitled ‘High Performance Optimization and Applications’ at the (Edmonton, AB, May 2010). His presentation (developed with Claudio Cañizares and Kankar Bhattacharya) was entitled ‘Optimal Operation of Distribution Feeders in Smart Grids’.
- The project participated in .
November, 2009
- Mary Beth Deline presented a poster (co-authored with Ian Rowlands) entitled ‘Keeping Up With the Joneses - Energy Consumption, Publicity and Social Network Influence‘ at the (Washington, DC, November 2009).
October, 2009
- Energent, one of the industry partners to the EHMS project, is profiled in the OCE Annual Report (page 29).
September 10, 2009
- Energy Hub partners are profiled in The Kitchener-À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Record.
July, 2009
- Mohammad Chehreghani Bozchalui presented a poster (co-authored with Claudio Cañizares and Kankar Bhattacharya) entitled ‘Mathematical Optimization Modeling of Energy Hub Management Systems (.pdf)’ at the (Calgary, AB, July 2009).
June, 2009
- The project is mentioned again on pages 30 and 32 of the IPPSO FACTO magazine in an article called "Energy Management Hubs".
- , which is listed near the bottom of the page.
May 12, 2009
- A number of faculty and students who are on the EHMS project had a booth set up at OCE Discovery '09. For more information about the event which was held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from May 11-12, 2009 please follow the .
- You can also view the posters that we displayed at OCE Discovery by following these links:
- Discovery '09 Energy Hub Management System Overview Poster (.pdf)
- Discovery '09 Energy Hub Management System Streams Poster (.pdf)
March, 2009
- The project was also mentioned in the 2009 edition of Watch, a magazine published by the University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Research and Technology Park, on pages 12-13. View the article (.pdf).
February, 2009
- The project is mentioned on pages 14-16 of IPPSO FACTO in an article entitled "."
October 14, 2008
- Professor Ian Rowlands from UÀ¶Ý®ÊÓƵ and David Curtis from Hydro One made a presentation about the Energy Hub Management System Project. View this presentation (.pdf).
February 11, 2008
- The EHMS project was mentioned in an article entitled "," on the Accelerator Centre website.
Project contact
Ian H. Rowlands
Professor, Environment, Resources & Sustainability
Faculty of Environment
University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ
Project partners
University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Key contacts:
- Professor Ian Rowlands (lead), Faculty of Environment
- Professor Claudio Cañizares, Faculty of Engineering
- Professor Kankar Bhattacharya, Faculty of Engineering
- Professor Paul Parker, Faculty of Environment
is a À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ-based technology firm leveraging the internet and mathematical modeling technologies to lower the energy costs of its clients. Located in the À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Research Technology Park, Energent provides industrial, institutional, and commercial clients with customized energy management solutions.
is a local distribution company, which is responsible for distributing electricity to more than 23,000 business and residential customers within the Town of Milton.
Milton Hydro Distribution Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Milton Hydro Holdings Inc., owned by the Town of Milton. Milton Hydro has been providing safe, reliable, and affordable electricity service for nearly a century.
The 's vision is a sustainable, competitive and reliable electricity system for the benefit of Ontario consumers. The organisation will balance the short-term and long-term needs of electricity users while developing a reliable and sustainable electricity system for their benefit. The Ontario Power Authority contributes to the development of a reliable and sustainable electricity system for the benefit of Ontario customers. In doing so, we plan for the long term and procure and coordinate conservation and electricity supply from diverse resources. (The OPA wordmark and the phrase Ontario Power Authority are Official Marks owned by the Ontario Power Authority.)
delivers electricity safely, reliably and responsibly to homes and businesses across the province of Ontario. Hydro One serves over 1.3 million customers on its distribution system, which spans about 75% of Ontario. Hydro Ones transmission system supplies electricity either directly or indirectly to more than 4 million customers and represents more than 96% of Ontarios transmission capacity. The company is wholly owned by the Government of Ontario.
The was created in response to the significant challenges and opportunities posed by the current energy situation in Ontario. The Centre invests in and promotes cutting-edge research collaborations between industry and colleges, universities and research hospitals. In this way, we foster innovation in energy markets, systems and technologies.