Smart Grid

I decided to investigate all the hoopla about SMART GRID and attend a workshop. It was put on at the American Public Power Association conference by Burns & McDonnell (engineering firm).

In a nutshell, smart grid is simply a way to even out the peaks and valleys of demand and production as well as improve reliability...remember the blackout in the summer of 2003?

Smart grid is not a solution in and of itself, it simply provides better information for utilities, homeowners, businesses, and producers to make decisions. To do this correctly will require software, decision systems, IT infrastructure, communications hardware, and a comprehensive strategy for entire regions and potentially the country to ensure that decisions made on a local scale do not have negative effects in other regions. Yes, not understanding the ramifications and tying everything together reminds me of the global financial meltdown and having a smart grid with too much data coupled with poor decision making by people could be a train wreck waiting to happen.

The potential risks aside, to build this smart grid infrastructure sounds like it should provide plenty of IT professionals along with telecommunications technicians work for quite a few years into the future. Business opportunities that evolve from this could be infinite.

Smart grid in the home will involve communications networks in your home that allow your electrical meter (smart meter) to communicate wirelessly to other devices in your home. It would also allow the utility company to segment the rate you pay based upon the time of day and appliance used.

For power producers, it would help regulate the peaks and valleys of power, especially renewables that are considered weather dependent (solar, wind, wave). First, understand that traditional power plants use large generators to generate constant streams of power. These can take hours or days to turn on, turn off, or adjust. On the other hand, a windmill produces exactly the power based upon how hard the wind blows. It is very uneven and inconsistent. In the midwest there are already power producers that "chase" the windmills because the windmills can produce more power than they need...only in spurts. So instead of installing large generators, the utilities are having to install small, quick to start and quick to shut down systems. In essence, they are chasing the power produced by the windmills with their generators.

The solution to that problem, besides utilizing smart grid technology and being able to control some of your appliances, is to have an ability to store excess power. Progressive companies like Austin Energy have looked into this and don't see the need to have huge battery packs for storage. (This reminds me of the Soviets burying fuel tanks all across East Germany so they could easily supply themselves in the event of a ground war). Nobody would want large battery packs buried all through the countryside. Instead, plug in cars, air conditioning units, and other grid connected options are being considered to both store as well as potentially provide power to the grid when not in use. It is much like a heat pump running one direction for cooling and the other for heating.

The bottom line with the smart grid is that it is a huge potential impact for jobs, especially IT, and prosperity in new businesses, even though we are still years away from perfecting the technology and its use.