Spearheaded by American Electric Power, the massive utility covering the Midwest, Appalachia and parts of Texas, appealed to the Federal Communications Commission yesterday for the government to dedicate licensed radio spectrum to Smart Grid operations, reports Earth2Tech. To do so, the commission would have to ban other types of users from using selected airwaves.
In order for major smart metering initiatives (and there are a lot of them in the works) to be effective, utilities will need to tap into wireless networks to beam energy consumption information between them and their customers. The scarcity of these wireless networks is a major hurdle for smart metering efforts. And that’s the argument AEP presented during a workshop on Smart Grid technology.
Utilities can’t just use any wireless spectrum either. While some are willing to rely on unlicensed, unexclusive spectrum, others are wary that these airwaves — used by countless other companies for varied purposes — could be plagued by interference. And energy delivery is one business where that’s unacceptable. So far, there’s no hard proof that this is the case, though the Electric Power Research Institute says it will do some testing in this area.
via Utilities call for wireless spectrum for the Smart Grid | VentureBeat.
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- Smart Grid Communications Gets Dedicated Licensed Spectrum and WiMAX Technology
- Green Technology -Arcadian Networks’ Private Spectrum Network Strengthens Minnesota Electric Co-op Smart Grid
- British utilities lobby against consumer energy monitors — will the same happen in the U.S.? | VentureBeat
- AEP Calls for Dedicated Wireless Spectrum For Smart Grid
- Utilities may get dedicated chunk of spectrum for smart grid – Ars Technica
