Smart Grid Blog

On-Ramp Wireless says it has solved a number of the problems with smart grid communications and better yet, they have done it in such a way that may allow them to avoid becoming road kill in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

The San Diego-based company has devised a networking platform called Ultra-Link Processing (ULP) that reads like a utility’s network manager’s wish list — in theory, anyway. ULP signals have a five-mile range, do not get obstructed by steel or concrete (the company put one under a manhole cover and could still maintain signal connections for two miles), and can carry enough data to provide remote monitoring or demand response services, according to CEO Joaquin Silva.

via A Qualcomm for the Smart Grid? : Greentech Media.

eMeter, the global leader in Smart Grid Management software, today announced that the PowerCentsDC program it designed and managed in partnership with Pepco and Smart Meter Pilot Program, Inc (SMPPI), has won the “Best Pricing and Demand Response Program” award from the Association for Energy Service Professionals (AESP). The program is the first pilot in the electric utility industry to test the response of residential customers to three distinct dynamic pricing options under one program.

via eMeter Wins Best Pricing and Demand Response Program Award for Pepco Pilot — SAN MATEO, Calif., March 9 /PRNewswire/ –.

World Energy Solutions has set out to put a market price on nothing.

The company — which provides services for auctions of carbon certificates and energy — has formally launched the World DR Exchange, an online auction sites for selling and buying capacity for demand response networks.

via An Auction House For Smart Grid Services : Greentech Media.

Examine a utility’s load curve over the course of a week and the trace looks like a roller-coaster. Demand for electric power peaks about 5 pm each day and declines to a low at about 2 am. Look closer and you see demand changing almost by the second. So there are two problems here that befuddle electric companies. One comes from having to deal with the large changes in demand as it grows and slackens throughout a 24 hour period.

via Solving the use-it-or-lose-it wind energy problem : Wind Power Design, Wind Turbine Installation, Wind Power News: Windpower Engineering.

Microgrids are natural innovation zones for the Smart Grid because they have experimentation scalability and flexibility.  Smart utilities could create partnerships with academic and business campuses in their territories to deploy microgrids and study the most effective solutions for management of distributed generation.  Why distributed generation?  Because smart utilities should leverage the abilities of microgrids to contribute energy to the utility grid and disconnect from the grid during times of peak electricity use.

via Microgrids – Fast Tracking Distributed Generation in the Smart Grid | Smart Grid Library.

Redesigning the electric grid to handle many small electricity producers – instead of just a few large ones – encourages individual energy self-reliance and contributes to national security, but the Fort Collins Smart Grid Project goes beyond this.

via Be fearful of Utility control of appliances | coloradoan.com | The Coloradoan.

Smart Grid Solutions from lighting control manufacturer Lutron Electronics Co., Inc. were recently displayed at the California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC) open house on January 20th, 2010.

Located at the University of California, Davis (UC-Davis), the CLTC is a research and education facility that focuses on the application of energy-efficient lighting and daylighting technologies through research, development, demonstration, outreach and education in partnership with utilities, manufacturers, end users, builders, designers, and governmental agencies.

via Lutron Electronics – News Room – Current News.

As the hype on smart grid continues, Frost & Sullivan takes a closer look at an essential element for rolling out smart grid technologies – demand response.  In this briefing, Frost & Sullivan evaluates customer willingness to adopt demand response, as well as the obstacles the market may encounter.

via Frost & Sullivan Hosts Free Webinar: Understanding the Complexities of a U.S. Demand Response… — MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Feb. 15 /PRNewswire/ –.

Smart Metering and Smart Grids are currently hot topics in the Middle East mainly driven by potential risks of supply and demand imbalances of electricity, which may impact the economic growth of the region say experts at A.T. Kearney, a leading global management consultancy.

via Smart technologies have great saving potential for GCC utilities sector | PC Magazine Middle and Near East.

Smart Grid’s Expected 250% 5-Yr Growth Rate is Great News for Cisco, IBM, Accenture, EnerNOC

Lux Research forecast last week that the global smart grid market will grow some 250% over the next five years, reaching nearly $16 billion by 2015 compared with $4.5 billion today. Interestingly, Lux further forecast that only a few select firms will take full advantage of this looming largesse.

via Who Will Be the Smart Grid’s Billion Dollar Winners? — Seeking Alpha.

Cooper Power Systems has announced that its demand response thermostat is now a ZigBee Smart Energy-Certified product. The certification validates the device’s communication via the global wireless standard, allowing utilities to talk to thermostats installed in residential and commercial environments via ZigBee Smart Energy home area networks, including AMI meters.

via Cooper Power Receives ZigBee Certification for Demand Response Solution.

Could EnerNoc’s own press releases backfire? It’s great that customers are beginning to earn real dollars by participating in demand response. But as more and more customers are realizing the value of their DR contributions, they are asking for a bigger piece of the pie. It is gradually getting harder and harder for the DR companies to renew contracts without handing over more of the money. Press releases like this one serve to remind customers to bargain even harder the next time their contract comes up for renewal — or the next time one of EnerNOCs dozens of competitors tries to get them to switch.

via Smart Grid: It’s Smart Grid Payback Time: EnerNOC DR Pays Store Chain $250,000.

It seems like Copenhagen is the place to be in terms of smart grid and green technology news. Not only is the company the “greenest” city in Europe, but, with the Copenhagen climate conference underway, it seemed the city was doing its best to control emissions in the area.

via Smart Grid.

Earlier this morning, Members of the Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition (DRSG) met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the other members of the House Delegation to COP-15 in Copenhagen. The House Delegation is part of the U.S. Delegation in Copenhagen to participate in an attempt to finalize an agreement that would govern international action on addressing climate change. The DRSG Delegation is attending the Copenhagen meetings as a UN-approved Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) and is the first smart grid NGO delegation to be participating in a COP meeting.

via Smart Grid Coalition Briefs House Speaker and Congressional Delegation in.

UCLA Engineering to demonstrate Smart Grid Technologies for Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has been awarded a $60 million grant from the Department of Energy to develop and test advanced smart grid technologies in partnership with a consortium of top Southern California research institutes including UCLA, USC and Caltech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

via UCLA Engineering: News Center.