It was short-sighted and irresponsible for the city council to oppose the power security and energy conservation benefits that smart meters will provide. Smart meters will give the power company an early warning when the system is under stress. This allows the power company to take actions to avoid a major outage. Smart meters won’t Continue reading →
power outages
Pacific Gas & Electric has released a host of news in the last month that helps explain how a multi-tiered smart grid approach adds up to ever-increasing benefits in terms of one key function: finding and restoring power outages. Consider it one angle for examining how distribution grid automation and management is emerging as the Continue reading →
Korea became the first country to complete a legal framework to develop a national smart grid digitally enabled to collect and act on information about the behavior of suppliers and consumers, making electricity provision more efficient and reliable. The Cabinet on Tuesday passed the ordinances of legislation on smart grids as part of the government’s Continue reading →
Power outages cost American businesses billions every year. But for a hospital, it’s more critical than money. Outages can jeopardize patients’ lives. But with the deployment of an ultra high-speed distribution feeder automation (DFA) system and its detection and protection features, officials at the only hospital serving Virginia’s eastern shore expect any disruptions to be Continue reading →
If the Smart Grid would have been in operation this week, hundreds of thousands of homeowners and businesses likely would not have been without power for several days. More like just a few minutes, ComEd said Wednesday. While many customers continue to wait for electricity to be restored since Monday’s storm, ComEd is eager to Continue reading →
Ever-growing gas prices have led most Americans to consider using smart grid technologies and gain more control on their electricity bills. However, they are still relatively unwilling to pay utilities for the extra cost of installing them, a survey from Zpryme revealed. A national survey of 1,082 home owners and renters last March found 90 Continue reading →
CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC, a subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP), announced today that it has selected ABB, a leading power and automation technology company, for the electric company’s intelligent grid Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS). Using ABB’s Network Manager™, the ADMS will process data from power line sensors and smart electric meters Continue reading →
IBM (NYSE: IBM | PowerRating) today announced that it has developed a new technology, now piloted with Shanghai Power, to help energy companies manage power outages more effectively while improving productivity. Developed for the energy industry by IBM Research, the technology can upgrade and transform a power grid by reducing outage frequency and duration of Continue reading →
Adding new capacity may not be the only way to prevent the massive power outage that most parts of the country experienced last summer. A move to “smart” power grids, at least for key load areas, may be another way to avert brownouts in crucial places. In a briefing with reporters here, EMC Corp. Asia Continue reading →
Residents will see a significant change in the way their electricity usage is monitored in the next two months, as Oncor Electric Delivery will install new smart meters to replace their older dial meters. The new digital technology will benefit both electricity consumers and providers through gathering and outputting more information about electricity usage, peak Continue reading →
There has been discussion about privacy questions raised by the “smart grid,” where utilities would be able to collect granular data about consumers’ energy consumption — down to the daily electricity use by the fridge in your kitchen or the TV in your bedroom. The benefits could include more consumer control over usage, more efficient Continue reading →
The term “microgrid” may conjure up images of self-sufficient military bases and remote outposts, generating and consuming power without any connections to the larger electricity grid. After all, backup generators that support multiple buildings — the bare-bones definition of a microgrid — are already a mainstay of hospitals, refineries, data centers, semiconductor plants and other Continue reading →
If a tree falls on a power line, and no one’s around to detect it, can it take the grid down? As we learned following the blackout of 2003, the answer to that question is yes. via The Smart Grid Means More Than Meters (PWR).
Perhaps America’s most critical infrastructure is its national electrical grid. It has served us well to this point, supporting all our grandiose and astounding technological innovations. But the grid is getting old, and it doesn’t keep up with our innovations (and electronic appetites) as well as it should. So, we’re upgrading – to a Smart Continue reading →
The words “self healing grid” are an instant lure, but grid experts would be happier if we stopped throwing the term around. What actually happens is lighter on the magic, heavier on the helpful. via Self Healing Grid More Like A Splint : Discovery News.
In Naperville, the future of electricity use is coming. Beginning next year, the city will install thousands of smart meters, wireless devices that allow utilities and customers to monitor electricity use, with the goal of reducing outages, lowering energy bills and shrinking carbon footprints. But as smart meters have been unveiled across the country this Continue reading →
We Energies is seeking $4 million in “smart grid” funding in a federal grant proposal forwarded this month to the U.S. Department of Energy. The proposal envisions an $8 million project, half of which would be borne by the company and half an allocation from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. Under a “smart grid,” Continue reading →
