Private 5G/LTE Networks for Utilities
Powering the future of utilities, right now.
but you can solve your critical problems now.
As the energy landscape rapidly evolves, the global. power grid power grid globally is facing unprecedented challenges. Surging electricity demands, extreme weather events, and sophisticated cybersecurity threats require a proactive and resilient approach. To build the adaptive grid of tomorrow, robust telecommunications are foundational – capable of integrating clean energy technologies like EVs, solar panels and smart heat pumps.
Navigating the shift to a system-wide private network is a complex, multi-year process. Discover how we can help you solve today’s immediate security and reliability challenges while building a secure, efficient, and durable grid for the future.
Why are electric utilities making the transition to Private 4G and 5G networks?
Traditional public commercial networks and legacy telecom capabilities simply cannot scale to meet modern grid demands. Private cellular networks provide the critical infrastructure needed to overcome these gaps by delivering:
Purpose-Built Reliability: Offers guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS) for operational technology (OT) and deep, real-time visibility into substation and field device behavior.
High-Bandwidth & Low-Latency Scale: Provides the advanced bandwidth capacity required to coordinate distributed energy resources (DERs), support advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), and manage real-time security video applications across countless locations.
Your network is only as secure as your largest vulnerability
Unmatched Security & Compliance: Eliminate the shared-risk environments of public networks and resolves data-sovereignty concerns, and comply with strict frameworks like NERC CIP, NIS2(EU) and IEC 62443. See our Utility Security & Compliance Guide here.
Own the Network. Control the Grid:
Why Druid Software’s Raemis™ Core is the Right-Sized Solution
The digital transformation of the energy sector, which is being driven by decarbonization, surging electricity demands, and the deployment of millions of IoT devices, requires a secure, high-performance communications layer. While private cellular networks deliver the required reliability and security for mission-critical grid operations, deploying a wide-area network can be a daunting, multi-year process.
Druid’s Raemis™ platform is a mature, 3GPP-compliant 4G/5G core that is specifically optimized for these business- and mission-critical use cases. It provides the perfect “right-sized” foundation because it allows utilities to deploy exactly what they need today, with the architectural flexibility to scale tomorrow.
Here is why the Raemis Core is the ideal fit for electric utilities:
Proven Scalability & Operational Simplicity:
Raemis is field-tested to scale effortlessly from single-site edge deployments such as generation facilities or DERs, to massive multi-state wide-area networks. Its intuitive graphical interface and comprehensive REST API hide 3GPP complexity, allowing utility IT and OT teams to manage the network without specialized telecom expertise
Complete Ownership & Ultimate Cybersecurity:
Utilities retain full authority over their infrastructure. The core can be deployed on-premises or in secure regional data centers, guaranteeing data sovereignty. Security is baked in from day one, with strict SIM/IMEI authentication and pairing, disabled connection sharing, and air-gapped environments that align directly with NERC CIP, NIS2 and IEC 62443 compliance.
Precision Network Slicing & Guaranteed QoS:
Raemis enables advanced network slicing to isolate operational technology (OT) traffic from less critical IT traffic. Critical SCADA and protection traffic can receive ultra-low latency and top priority, while AMI and workforce applications run on separate slices. This guarantees deterministic performance even under heavy congestion
Open, Multi-Vendor Architecture:
Raemis is entirely radio-agnostic. It supports a wide range of spectrum holdings and works with any vendor’s equipment. This eliminates vendor lock-in, optimizes capital investments, and provides a seamless migration path from Private LTE to 5G Standalone on a single platform.
RAN Partnerships for Utility Deployments
Public Carrier or Hybrid Network Support
Integrated Private SIM, Private Core and enhanced device security across commercial carrier networks with failover to a private network when deployed.
Due to pressures on Capital, Regulatory priorities or the lack of existing utility-owned vertical infrastructure, many utilities will still be relying on commercial carrier networks for many years to come. These utilities and the customers they service require enhanced security, provisioning control and data sovereignty on their field devices leveraging these public networks. Integrated SIM solutions exist today to solve for this common challenge.
- Enhanced Reliability: Ensures continuous connectivity through multi-carrier failover and resilient core architecture.
- Simplified Management: Reduces the burden on utilities by streamlining SIM and device lifecycle management.
- Improved Security & Visibility: Delivers device-level clarity and stronger protections across all wireless environments.
- Future-Proof Flexibility: Offers a practical, step-by-step path from relying on commercial carriers today to deploying secure private LTE/5G networks in the future.
Find out more
Our “Private Networks In Utilities” whitepaper walks through how Private 5G is changing the way Utilities manage their networks. From real-time fault detection and predictive maintenance to secure field communications and autonomous grid operations. It also outlines the specific capabilities that make Private 5G not just a fit, but the future.
Supporting Critical Utility Operations
Modern electric grids are composed of dozens of specialized systems, each with entirely different connectivity requirements. A Raemis-managed Private Network enables network slicing and Quality of Service (QoS) prioritization, meaning the network can be virtually divided to handle everything from mission-critical protection relays to millions of low-bandwidth smart meters over the exact same physical infrastructure.
The table below outlines the core connectivity profiles required to support the diverse applications running across a modern utility grid:
| Utility Use-Case | Data Capacity | Latency Requirement (ms) | Reliability Requirement | Security Requirement | Device Density |
| Tele-protection | Low | < 5 ms to 10 ms | High | High | Low |
| Transmission SCADA | Medium | < 10 ms to 50 ms | High | High | Low |
| FLISR (Fault Location, Isolation & Restoration) | Low | < 16 ms to 100 ms | High | High | Medium |
| Mission Critical Voice (Push-to-Talk) | Medium | < 100 ms | High | High | Medium |
| Distribution SCADA | Low/Medium | < 100 ms to 500 ms | High | High | Medium |
| Distributed Energy Resources (DER) | Medium | < 100 ms to 500 ms | High | High | High |
| Video CCTV (Substation Monitoring) | High | < 100 ms to 500 ms | Medium | High | Low/Medium |
| VVO (Volt-Var Optimization) | Low | < 1,000 ms | High | High | Medium |
| Metering (AMI 2.0) | Medium | < 1,000 ms | High | High | High |
| Metering (AMI 1.0) | Low | > 10,000 ms (Minutes to Hours) | Medium | Medium | High |
| Water Flow & Pressure Sensors | Low | > 10,000 ms (Minutes to Hours) | Medium | Medium | High |
| Gas Flow & Pressure Sensors | Low | > 10,000 ms (Minutes to Hours) | Medium | Medium | High |
Positive Outcomes delivered by a Raemis-powered Private Network
Our partner TDF, a digital infrastructure and network operator based in France, successfully deployed a standalone Private Mobile Network (PMN) across critical generation facilities and logistics sites for a major European utility which operates multiple national grids, powering tens of millions of homes and businesses across Europe with a low-carbon mix of nuclear power, hydroelectricity, and renewables.
Find out how the organization transitioned from fragmented connectivity to a secure, resilient foundation for operational digital transformation.
A Raemis-managed Private Network creates a ripple effect of benefits that enhances operational efficiency for the utility while fundamentally improving the end-user experience.
Benefits for Electric Utilities
- Predictive Maintenance: AI algorithms can analyze real-time sensor data to detect equipment wear and tear, allowing utilities to service transformers and lines before costly, catastrophic failures occur.
- Dynamic Grid Optimization: Near real-time visibility enables automated load balancing, reducing energy loss and seamlessly integrating distributed energy resources (DERs) like wind and solar.
- Enhanced Security: A completely private, dedicated network isolates critical infrastructure data from public internet vulnerabilities, significantly strengthening cybersecurity postures.
- Operational Efficiency: Guaranteed access to remote devices reduces the need for manual field inspections, lowering operational expenditures (OPEX) and improving worker safety.
Benefits for Customers
- Enhanced Reliability and Fewer Outages: With predictive maintenance and automated fault isolation, customers experience significantly fewer power interruptions and faster restoration times.
- Stable Energy Costs: Because the utility operates more efficiently and reduces energy waste, those savings can help stabilize rates for end consumers.
- Smarter Energy Management: Reliable two-way communication to smart meters allows customers to access real-time usage data, empowering them to adjust consumption and save money during peak demand hours.
- Support for the Green Transition: A modernized, AI-ready grid better supports home solar panels, battery storage, and electric vehicle (EV) charging without compromising local power stability.