Smart grid: Unnecessary, or necessary evil?
Regulations, privacy and security concerns, and other issues could hold back developments.
Source: MIT Technology Review, SolveClimate, Gerson Lehrman Group -- Consulting-Specifying Engineer, 7/20/2009 8:44:37 AM
According to a story by Kevin Bullis at the MIT Technology Review, a smarter electricity grid could fundamentally change the way people pay for and manage their electricity use. In theory, the technology could help reduce demand, save money, and improve reliability and efficiency.
But implementing the necessary changes will be difficult, according to experts attending a symposium on the smart grid at GE Global Research in Niskayuna, N.Y., this week. They expect resistance from regulators and consumers alike, citing the complexity of the proposed system as well as concerns about privacy and security.
The smart grid will incorporate new networking technology, including sensors and controls that make it possible to monitor electricity use in real time and make automatic changes that reduce energy waste. Furthermore, grid operators should be able to instantly detect problems that could lead to cascading outages, like the ones that cut power to the northeastern United States in 2003. And the technology ought to allow energy companies to incorporate more intermittent, renewable sources of electricity, such as wind turbines, by keeping the grid stable in the face of minute-by-minute changes in output.
In a story by Stacy Morford at SolveClimate, developing a national smart grid is such a high priority for the Obama administration that regulators plan to let power providers who pioneer the technology pass their costs on to their customers-before national standards are approved and before analysts have determined the most cost-effective technologies.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission adopted its official Smart Grid Policy on July 16, setting priorities for the grid's development that emphasize such areas as cybersecurity, dynamic pricing, and the need for technology that can facilitate off-peak charging for electric vehicles.
Experts at the Gerson Lehrman Group have written an opinion piece entitled "Smart Grid is the Scam of the Century." In it, they discuss that the Smart Grid is a Trojan Horse Big Brother that wants to get into your home or business under the disguise of being green.
Author Kevin Bullis at MIT Technology Review also wrote an article titled "A Costly and Unnecessary New Electricity Grid."
In it, he says a national interstate system for distributing power may prove an expensive boondoggle.
-
Those oppossing the SmartGrid are simply ill informed I fear. Europe is quite far along in implementing Smart meters, with substantial cost savings and payback in just several years. Echelon's technology used by Enel, (27 million customers) is the favorite in EU. It's NES system has proven itself 100% reliable and "future proof". Now Duke Energy is using NES for it's SmartGrid across some several states. Jim Rodgers is singing the praises of the system. I suggest reading Echelon web site and white papers for more timely information...
k. bertram - 12/13/2009 1:44:35 AM CST -
The SMART GRID so called, is anything but. Published evidence says proponents are ready to complete a US national grid for transmitting HV AC nation wide. This in the interest of the economy. Such a grid is totally uneconomical and thus an ENERGY WASTER.
Any system study must include capital,losses, cost of operation, depreciation and maintenance. The fact that this has never been done is good evidence.
Let's go forward with good engineering economics for the sake of saving energy and money.
Archie D. Fellenzer PE Consulting Engineer - 8/2/2009 11:55:49 AM CDT -
When all of the hype is stripped away, here is what remains:
The electric power system is a real time system. Power in must always equal power out. Therefore energy resources that are based on renewables, because of thier constsnt output variability, must have a sump to absorb excess energy and source to provide shortfalls in energy, dynamically operating.
The Smart Grid is electronic service metering at user points of common coupling that provide real time energy usage data to the host utility. This requires comunications. Given communications, the serving utility can then turn users on and off for the various reasons one would turn users on and off, such as impending short falls in power availability, prearranged peak load shed scheduling, non payment of electric bills, etc.
Consider the number of installed service meters in this country. To implement a smart grid the cost would quickly excede trillions of dollars. The benefit is not readilly justifyable.
The point about additional financing of present renewable energy products and techniques is well made. Without government and mandated utility investment, none of the present technologies would past muster on a competitive cost benefit analysis with the electric grid. This statement obviously assumes that interconnection to the electric power grid is a viable option and available.
James M. Daley PE DGCP - 7/29/2009 4:17:09 PM CDT -
It seems to me that the whole Smart Grid could be driven soley by the renewables folks to get their heavily subsidized product to market because others were not about to buid the desired infrastructure that will be required - a great way to get someone else to further subsidize your projects.
astpeter - 7/29/2009 10:17:22 AM CDT
Major concern over smart grid security
09/10/2009Government releases smart grid framework
09/30/2009Smart Grid could be vulnerable to hackers
03/22/2009IEEE launches Smart Grid Web Portal
01/22/2010
