Amazon Web Services (AWS) is helping Texas-based Innowatts use its artificial intelligence (AI) enabled SaaS platform so energy providers can leverage cloud-based, scalable data analytics.

Leveraging the power and agility of AWS to process 4.3 billion data points per hour, the SaaS energy analytics platform has been deployed across nine countries and 17 energy markets, with more than 45 million meters under management.

“AWS is fully committed to using cutting-edge technology to drive digital transformation for leaders in the energy space,” said Rolf Gibbels from AWS. “This relationship underpins the importance of cloud-enabled digital transformation for utility companies and will help bring more sustainable, reliable and affordable energy to millions of American businesses and residential customers.”

By leveraging AWS, Innowatts is helping utilities tackle challenges such as decarbonisation and decentralisation to extreme weather and the electrification of transportation. By combining AI data-analysis technology with AWS’s flexibility, scalability and pay-as-you-go model, it gives utilities transparency into their operations, the needs of their customers and changing energy-market conditions.

That’s a step forward for utilities that urgently need ways to manage demand and supply-side complexities, respond effectively to external pressures such as extreme weather events, and maintain profitability while delivering resilient, affordable and sustainable energy for their users.

With smart technologies – from grid-level infrastructure to consumer devices – now generating vast amounts of data, the machine-learning (ML) platform delivers accurate forecasts and real-time intelligence.

Innowatts’ predictive intelligence can handle load forecasting, demand analytics and grid-edge management applications. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it helped energy providers rapidly adapt to changing conditions and lockdown-related demand fluctuations. The company says its forecasts also outperformed other prediction models in a year-long Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) study, and outperformed rivals during the 2020 Texas heatwave, with a mean absolute percentage error of 1.5%, compared with more than 2% for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (Ercot) forecast.

Innowatts says it is delivering quantifiable RoI and business value for utilities, with forecasts and risk management yielding cost savings of up to $50 per meter per year from avoided generation and distribution charges. With access to deep customer insights, utilities can also develop personalised engagement strategies for customers, reducing churn by 25% without impacting gross margins.

“Based on the insights provided by Innowatts, the city of Fargo is able to precisely measure the adoption and use of the electric-vehicle charging station investments and, with these insights, drive initiatives to bring more awareness to the clean energy alternatives available in downtown Fargo and drive more foot traffic for our local businesses,” said Michael Redlinger, Fargo’s assistant city administrator. “The analytics from Innowatts and their ability to bring meaning to otherwise disparate data streams generated by this project has shown the city what is possible from smart clean energy investments.”

Innowatts uses AI to help electricity providers unlock grid edge opportunities, increase customer value and accelerate the transition to sustainable energy. The platform harnesses insights from more than 45 million meters, delivering real-time, customer-centric energy analytics with accuracy. The firm has clients and operations across the Americas, Europe and Asia.

“We’re proud to bring our ground-breaking AI analytics to a wider audience,” said Jeff Wright, chief revenue officer of Innowatts. “The future of energy depends on using vast amounts of data gleaned from dispersed sources to generate actionable intelligence at scale, and that’s exactly what Innowatts is now working to deliver.”