VoltServer, the company that invented Digital Electricity and that has patented and commercialized the distribution of electricity in the format known as fault managed power (FMP), recently formed the FMP Alliance along with Belden, Cisco Systems, Panduit, and Prysmian Group. In a statement announcing the alliance’s formation, VoltServer described the group as “an open industry association dedicated to advocating, promoting, and advancing fault managed power technologies,” adding that the FMP Alliance “aims to champion and foster widespread adoption of fault managed power technology across various industries.”
The group described their primary goals as follows.
- Industry leadership—Functioning as a cohesive voice, actively promoting the adoption of FMP across various industries, emphasizing its merits and applications
- Standards advocacy—Actively contributing to shaping industry standards and regulations for FMP
- Education and awareness—Playing a pivotal role in educating stakeholders on the benefits of FMP technology and fostering awareness about its transformative potential in power systems
While the newly formed FMP Alliance lists these goals as a collective group, the alliance’s individual members have been accomplishing these objectives, often collaboratively, for some time. The alliance commented, “The founding members of the FMP Alliance bring together extensive expertise and experience in the realm of power technology. Each company—Belden, Cisco Systems, Panduit, Prysmian Group, and VoltServer—stands as a recognized leader in its respective field. Through the collective efforts of these industry leaders within the FMP Alliance, the adoption of fault managed power solutions is accelerated.”
Belden's LAN technology and applications manager, Ron Tellas, commented, "Belden helped pioneer FMP's UL certification and its incorporation into the 2023 NEC. We're proud to be part of this consortium to continue real-world conversations about what's possible with fault managed power. We have already been involved in successful FMP use cases alongside VoltServer as we help our customers connect more devices to their networks and acquire, transmit, orchestrate, and manage critical data. This alliance will help accelerate widespread adoption and advancement of FMP among organizations moving toward digital transformation."
The FMP Alliance is actively seeking members from a range of industries to establish an ecosystem that supports the technology. The alliance also promote collaboration and partnerships with organizations, government entities, and stakeholders that share an interest in advancing FMP technology.
The alliance characterizes FMP as “an advanced technology designed to elevate the safety, dependability, and efficiency of power systems. By actively identifying and addressing faults within power networks, FMP ensures a more robust and consistent power supply, leading to heightened safety and enhanced operational performance, while also enabling faster deployment and reduced material. Additionally, compared to certain traditional power distribution methods, fault managed power can achieve higher efficiency. We expect this technology to help lower costs and reduce emissions for a wide range of industries from building construction to information technology.”
VoltServer adds that Digital Electricity is “the distribution of electricity in a natively digital, fault managed format.”