Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Smart Meter deployment creates consumer concerns

Smart Grid and smart meters hold the promise of long term consumption management and reduction but how reliable is the new technology? Recently consumers in California have contended that the new meters do not capture consumption at the same rate as traditional meters and have resulted in increased power costs. Are the new meters more accurate than the old meters or are there calibration issues in the new meter technology? The link below is to a recent New York Times article describing what some states and commissions are dealing with.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/us/14meters.html?_r=1&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Morning%2BBell&partner=rss&emc=rss

If additional oversight will be needed to ensure meter benchmarking and calibration testing above what utilities have done historically is required, what is the incremental cost of deployment and long term support going to be?

Monday, November 2, 2009

Why put an IHD in the home?

This question has been floating around for a while now and with the grant release recently it seems like a good time to address this issue.


Couple of interesting facts about smart phones and the market forecast for adoption:

1. GSM and Smart Phones combined made up 63% of the world market in 2006

2. The iPhone & Blackjack for consumers, and Blackberry for businesses have completely changed the way phones are viewed and utilized

3. Each new generation of phones enhances capability and security

The role of the In-Home Display is to provide the consumer with relevant actionable data about their energy consumption and account. Yet, how many of us keep our phone/PDA within easy reach, even at home? While the IHD would give a counter top presence in the home, is it likely to become just another item on the counter taking up space that is eventually disregarded completely?

The long term view has to be yes without a doubt. The global cell phone market devotes billions to marketing and sales, constantly touting the smart phone as a lifestyle device. Utilities may have a unique relationship with consumers, but why try to compete for consumer attention?

If you want to get the most out of those federal funds not allocated to smart meters, refocus grant dollars going towards IHD’s into, Smart Thermostats, Consumer Portals, and Web Applications targeted to smart consumer devices.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Smart Grid...where do you start?

In discussions with various utilities and listening to other vendors providing both products and services over the past couple of years I hear a common question, "how do we get started?"

Smart Grid creates a unique challenge, mainly based on the fact that the scope of a given smart grid project can have widely varying scope. It can be targeted to the home, specifically inside the home beyond the meter, or focused on the telecommunications and managing assets more effectively through distribution automation. Given all the variables and conditions that can exist it can be daunting for managers and executives to get a comfort level with all the costs associated and value they can expect in return.

The good news is, smart grid solutions can be adapted to suit most situations. Leaving managers and executives to ask some fundamental questions: What do my customers really want? What does my utility really need?

Those two answers will help determine a direction for not only smart grid but for the overall business and technology strategy of the organization.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Smart Grid Standards Update

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to Present Major Report on Smart Grid Interoperability Standards

NIST to Host Detailed Briefing Following Report’s Unveiling

WASHINGTON—U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will present a major new report for public comment next Thursday on the Smart Grid—the planned next-generation network for distributing electricity throughout the country by incorporating modern information technology—in Washington, D.C.

The draft report, entitled NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards, Release 1.0, was developed during the first phase of NIST's three-phase plan to identify technical standards to support the interoperability of Smart Grid devices and systems. Following Locke’s unveiling of the draft report at the GridWeek 2009 Conference at 8:30 a.m., an in-depth public briefing by NIST will include an opportunity for stakeholders to review the report’s contents and learn about next steps. The public will have 30 days to comment on the report.

“This report represents input from more than 1,500 stakeholders who have participated in NIST’s process of developing a Smart Grid framework,” said NIST’s George Arnold, National Coordinator for Smart Grid Interoperability. “It identifies a foundational set of standards for grid interoperability and security, as well as high-priority action plans to fill gaps where additional standards are needed.”

Commerce Secretary Locke Unveils Smart Grid Report
WHEN: 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009
WHERE: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20004

Web site: http://www.gridweek.com/2009/

NIST Smart Grid Report Briefing
WHEN: 1 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009
WHERE: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20004

The three-hour briefing is free and open to the public. For more information on NIST’s work with Smart Grid, visit http://www.nist.gov/smartgrid/.

The agenda has been posted at http://www.nist.gov/smartgrid/GRIDWEEKAGENDA.pdf.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Smart Grid and renewable energy mean new infrastructure

As a follow up to the issue of infrastructure proliferation I would like to include the following excert from an article in Power Magazine:

In June, California issued yet another report on renewable energy. This one, a joint effort of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the California Energy Commission (CEC), analyzes implementation issues related to increasing the state’s renewables portfolio standard (RPS) to 33% by 2020. The report is the latest in an increasingly growing number of assessments, policy pronouncements, and administrative decisions examining renewable energy and climate change issues.

This most recent CPUC/CEC report provides some updated numbers quantifying the task at hand, but it doesn’t break any new ground. It comes as no surprise that statewide electricity expenditures will be significantly higher under a 33% RPS than under an "all-gas" scenario in which California stops investing in renewable energy.

The real surprise is how little has changed since California began its latest push to increase its use of renewable energy. Consistent with prior assessments, this latest report identifies existing infrastructure planning and permitting processes as the key barrier to attaining RPS targets. For years, market participants and policy makers have recognized this imperative to fundamentally change and streamline the permitting process for infrastructure projects, which begs the question — Is California moving any closer to meeting renewable energy and climate change goals?

Transmission, Transmission, Transmission

Transmission persists as the largest obstacle to bringing renewable resources online. Large-scale renewable generation projects necessary to meet RPS targets tend to be located far from load centers and existing transmission lines. Without assurances that transmission will be in place to deliver their power to the grid, renewable developers cannot offer purchasing utilities a viable product and thus cannot obtain financing or otherwise move forward with projects.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Smart Grid - What is it?

At iTeres we have like most in the industry seen many conflicting statements about what Smart Grid is. The DoE and other groups have proposed definitions and while all share some common elements none seem to really hit the nail on the head. We feel that the definition below fits our understanding of Smart Grid as an industry today.

'A closed electric ecosystem with energy and information traveling bi-directionally from the point of consumption to the point of generation across inter-connected systems, for the purpose of improving reliability, reducing the proliferation of infrastructure over time, creating energy awareness, and improving the capability to forecast trends and events.'

For this week I would like to focus on the reducing the proliferation of infrastructure over time.

This is an interesting dynamic when you view the issue from a comprehensive national energy startegy that includes significant increases in renewable sources such as wind, solar, and biomass.

These sources of energy are not capable of generating the same amount of energy that fossil fuel and nuclear powered generating plants are. Leading to the logical conclusion we will need more renewable plants to accomplish the shift into alternate fuel sources for power generation. This also means additional transmission infrastructure is required to connect these new plants to the grid.

Smart Grid and demand management is the critical element to making the shift feasible. If the envisioned demand management and demand destruction strategies are not effective, the amount of new infrastructure required will sky rocket. Thousands of miles of new transmission lines will have to be constructed and the devices required to operate and monitor will have to be deployed right along side. This will create incredible amounts of data and complexity if the point of consumption behaviors are not modified.

This is why iTeres views Smart Grid as a closed ecosystem. Each component from generating plan to point of consumption must be working in concert for Smart Grid on a national scale to be a success.

Monday, August 17, 2009

iTeres Smart Grid Discussion

Welcome to the iTeres Smart Grid discussion!

Smart Grid as a concept can be daunting and at times a challenge to determine what the benefits and risks actually are. Each week we will be discussing one aspect of Smart Grid technology, architecture, solutions, and implementation strategies.