“Smart Grid” fulfills a comprehensive vision to improve the reliability, efficiency, and security of the electric network. The current grid (or network) becomes “smart” when the conventional electric system is augmented with communications infrastructure, data management, automation, and control technologies that provide for improved management of power production, distribution, and consumption by power producers, distributors, and energy users.
consumption
At age 83, Charles Beamon would appear to be an unlikely pioneer in solving America’s energy problems.
But the Vance Road homeowner is among the first in Chattanooga with a so-called smart electric meter that gives him and his power provider — Chattanooga’s EPB — continuous feedback on his home’s energy consumption.
Mr. Beamon says he hasn’t noticed any change in the comfort of his home since the smart meter and the programmable thermostat from EPB were installed a year ago. But he does enjoy cheaper monthly electric bills.
“My electric bill in June was only $31 and only $28 in May,” he said. “I’d say it’s working out pretty well.”
With such favorable feedback from most of the 32 participants in EPB’s pilot EnergySense program, EPB will begin next week installing 1,000 more of its smart meters under its time-of-day pricing option. Such devices and pricing methods continuously measure how much power is being consumed and set the electricity rate at a higher cost when it is most in demand and the most expensive to produce.
On Thursday, the Tennessee Valley Authority and 20 of its distributors initiated a request for assistance from the federal government to help pay for similar smart grid technologies across the utility’s seven-state region.
Under time-of-day prices, consumers who limit power consumption on hot summer afternoons or cold winter mornings could get a break. Those who use more power when most others do could end up paying more.
“If we make people aware of the electricity they consume and use time-of-day pricing to discourage consumption during peak demand periods, we think we can promote more energy efficiency and help the customer and us save money,” EPB Senior Vice President David Wade said.
The typical residential customer in the program saved about $50 over the past year, EPB spokeswoman Lacie Newton said.
EPB’s smart grid is part of a $220 million fiber-optic network being deployed across Chattanooga in the next year by the city-owned utility. Once the system is fully installed — estimated to take about three years — EPB will have the largest municipally owned fiber-optic system in America.
EPB hopes to recoup its investment primarily from not having to continue to manually read its 160,000 meters, cutting the theft of power from altered older-design meters and generating extra revenues from new video and telecommunications services made possible by the fiber-optic network.
via Chattanooga Times Free Press | Electricity meets the Internet with smart meters.
Country Energy has foreshadowed a significant body of work ahead between the electricity sector and the Government to work through overlaps between smart grids and the national broadband network.
The utility’s general manager for strategy, Ben Hamilton, told an Australian Information Industry Association lunch today that connectivity alternatives for Country Energy’s intelligent network project had been assessed.
He said it was likely the network backbone would be a mix of technologies.
“Given the geographic spread of locations, in all likelihood there’ll be a mix of our own assets for network control as well as existing carrier assets,” Hamilton said.
“The NBN also becomes a consideration now. It’s likely the NBN will give us some backhaul capability between some towns [we service].”
Country Energy’s project has been running for about 18 months. At its heart is a residential smart grid trial and a “demonstration house” in Queanbeyan, a suburb outside Canberra.
via Country Energy adds NBN to smart grid thinking – Networking – Technology – News – iTnews.com.au.
A fight over control of the home (and office) seems to be taking shape.
As time goes on, the world will likely see competition between companies like Tendril and Adura Technologies that make hardware and software for controlling power in buildings, and demand response service providers like Comverge (COMV) and EnerNoc (ENOC), which have independent networks that deliver “negawatts” of power to utilities in terms of reduced consumption.
The nub of the competition is that these companies provide technologies that can accomplish the same task. The hardware/software vendors effectively install equipment that lets utilities, with the cooperation of the residents, curb power to lights and appliances. Businesses and consumers can deploy these technologies themselves without a utility, but because of the subsidies and benefits utilities can offer, they will be invariably involved.
Without a middleman, the costs for adding this sort of functionality will be lower.
“We don’t think the utilities should be throwing the problem over the fence and outsourcing it,” asserts Adrian Tuck, CEO of Tendril. “We don’t see negawatts succeeding in the long-term.
“We will provide the utilities with the tools to do it themselves,” he said.
via The Looming Smart Grid Battle: Software vs. Services — Seeking Alpha.
As electricity consumption reaches record highs, utility companies and governments are searching for eco-friendly alternatives to the energy crisis.
Smart meters can provide real-time readings of energy use, providing more detailed information than conventional meters. Many energy companies throughout North America and Europe are in the process of replacing manual meter readings with these instant, automated systems.
If consumers know the time-of-use prices for its energy consumption, the hope is that they will think twice before doing a load of laundry or running the dishwasher during peak evening hours. The long-term goal will be to reduce overall electricity demand, therefore requiring less generating capacity.
Smart meters can cost anywhere from $250 to $500 depending on features. Critics argue that the cost of installing the new smart meters does not justify the expense, especially when used by low energy consumers, such as homeowners.
via Smart meters a smart choice for curbing consumption : Centre Flow.
Google’s PowerMeter
What it does: PowerMeter will take data from smart meters and process it into the PowerMeter interface, enabling consumers to see their energy consumption over time. Since smart meters are being rolled out by utilities, the tool will largely rely on utility deals. But Google has also said it is looking at ways to use energy data without smart meters, as well as working with third-party device and application makers.
Microsoft’s Hohm
What it does: Hohm is a tool that will enable consumers to see their energy consumption over time and recommend ways to save energy. If Microsoft hasn’t hooked up with your utility yet, you can still enter some basic information into Hohm about location and home, and it will use predictive algorithms to predict your energy consumption. If Microsoft has partnered with your utility, Hohm will integrate your historical energy use, and you will eventually see data from smart meters once they have been rolled out. Like PowerMeter, Hohm will eventually be integrated with applications built by third parties.
via CHEAT SHEET: Google-Microsoft Energy Smackdown, PowerMeter vs. Hohm.
