Smart Grid Blog

Two years ago Boulder was seriously examining becoming its own municipal utility. Then along came the offer from Xcel Energy to turn our fair city into a SmartGridCity (SGC). The venture was heavily praised by our senators, congressman, governor, and Mayor Shaun McGrath as having only great upsides for our community.

The company publicity was nothing less than triumphal — $100 million of private at-risk money was going toward the venture from a consortium of stakeholders who could win much in the way of intellectual property in this growing market. To victor go the spoils!

via Butterfield: Boulder`s SmartGridCity is looking dim – Boulder Daily Camera.

A SECRET EnergyAustralia plan, backed by the NSW government, would transform large sections of the state’s power grid so electric cars could plug into home power points and households could monitor the greenhouse gas output of individual appliances.

The proposal is part of a bid lodged with the federal government’s $100 million “smart grid, smart city” fund, and would start rolling out this year if successful. It would provide a glimpse of a future energy system in the trial areas of central Sydney, the upper north shore, Newington, Newcastle and Scone in the Hunter Valley.

via electic cars|green energy.

The interactive, computer-managed electric distribution system known as smart grid isn’t just smart — it’s expensive.

The cost of upgrading the country’s system is set at $165 billion over the next two decades by the industry-funded Electric Power Research Institute.

In Colorado, Xcel Energy’s pilot SmartGridCity in Boulder comes with a $100 million price tag.

via Cost of smart-grid projects shocks consumer advocates – The Denver Post.

The concept of a smart grid powers up imaginations around the world—and not just inside the energy industry. The cultural phenomenon of smart grid touches everyone from politicians to primary school children. There are articles and documentaries on the subject. There are entire magazines and conferences on the topic. But, why stop there? Why stop with just the confined concept of a smart grid?

via Smart grid is just the start… « POWER-GEN Europe Blog.

HOUSEHOLDS will be able to sell electricity, washing machines will become “intelligent” and electric vehicles will fill the streets as part of a plan to turn Glasgow into one of the world’s first “smart cities”.

ScottishPower hopes to revamp the electricity network in Scotland’s biggest city over the next decade.

via Smart grid will allow households to make a profit from power – The Scotsman.

The announcement follows the launch in late December of the Smart City Project in Japan – a joint initiative between SAP, the University of Tokyo’s Future Design Centre (FDC) and a number of other firms to create technology solutions aimed at addressing environmental and resource problems, food supply problems, health care problems and education problems.

via SAP touts CO2 reduction as path to profitability – sustainable IT, smart grids, sap, Japan, green IT, global warming, CO2, carbon emissions – Computerworld.

Among the tech giants supplying solutions that address climate change is SAP. Recently the company announced its participation in the Smart City Project – what will eventually become a large network of low-carbon communities all around the world. Other companies participating in Smart City include Sharp, Nikken Sekkei Ltd, Hewlett-Packard Japan, Mitsui Fudosan, e-Solutions Inc., and the Future Design Center Incorporated Association (FDC) in Japan.

via SAP at the forefront of CO2 reduction.

The ultimate smart city, then, will allow utility companies–like Xcel Energy ( XEL – news – people ) in Boulder–to better manage power, to automatically prevent and repair service outages. Imagine a summer without blackouts, or a winter when downed power lines can be repaired in half the time. No more calling 611 to report an outage–they’ll already be rolling the truck.

via Tearing Down The Digital Silos – Forbes.com.

Local efforts, such as the world’s first Smart Grid City in Boulder, are the front lines in the global battle against climate change. Two representatives from the Colorado city will attend the United Nations climate convention to talk about what Boulder has learned over the past couple of years.

via Boulder representatives to speak at Copenhagen.

While California struggles to garner consumer support for smart meters, other areas of the United States are moving ahead with smart energy initiatives. The city of Boulder, Colorado, for example, has been named the SmartGridCity. It is the first community in the United States with a power system that blends traditional and digital technology including smart meters into an advanced electric grid.

via SmartGrid Cities.

IBM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating — IBM (NYSE: IBM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) singed an agreement with the Chinese clean energy producer ENN Group lately about a package of strategic cooperation plans, as part of the IT giant's efforts to boost its Smart City project, citing a report.

In detail, IBM is set to invest in ENN Group's energy service business that is oriented to energy saving and emission cutting, cooperate with the Chinese company to build a IT joint venture for the Smart City and Smart Energy plans, as well as facilitate the partner's development and transformation with its IT services.

via IBM IBM Partners Chinese New Energy Company for Smart Cities.

The $100 million initiative will see Government, energy and communications sectors working in partnership to deploy Australia’s first commercial-scale smart grid, with the potential to reduce home energy bills, cut carbon pollution and help in the fight against climate change.

“Smart grids provide greater ability to incorporate and distribute renewable energy, save money through cutting-edge ‘self-healing’ technologies, and reduced demand, and empower consumers to manage their energy use,” said Environment Minister Peter Garrett at the announcement.

via Bidding opens for Smart Grid, Smart City.

OSIsoft® today announced that Xcel Energy has successfully launched operations using the PI System® in Boulder, CO, the nation’s first fully integrated SmartGridCity™, as part of the infrastructure for collection and management of time series data required to monitor and implement the SmartGridCity concept.

The PI System stores, in a single database, electricity usage meter data for households, substation performance and status data for all four Boulder substations.

The smart grid requires the electrical transmission and distribution (T&D) industry to combine data from multiple sources in order to make dynamic grid management decisions. Traditionally, the operating data needed for a consolidated view of the grid and decisions made around that view get stored in separate systems and isolated to different business units. When this happens, engineers have to spend hours and days trying to access this data and make use of all these resources. Use of the PI System allowed Xcel Energy to easily consolidate multiple data sources, including advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and substation data, into a single system, thereby providing a single consolidated view. Also, meter data — which is traditionally used only for billing — now adds to the knowledge of operating conditions.

via Xcel Energy SmartGridCity Power Grid Uses OSIsoft PI System.

The Australian Government today announced the next crucial step in transforming Australia’s energy grid, with the potential to reduce home energy bills, reduce carbon pollution and help tackle climate change.

The $100 million Smart Grid, Smart City initiative will see Government and energy and communications sectors working in partnership to rollout Australia’s first commercial-scale smart grid.

Releasing the report Smart Grid, Smart City: A new direction for a new energy era, which comes after two months of consultation and research, Environment Minister, Peter Garrett said it provides valuable insights into how smart grids can work in Australia.

“Smart grids are modern electricity grids that interact with information technology and communications infrastructure to more effectively manage Australia’s energy supply and use,” Mr Garrett said.

via Australia takes another step towards new Smart Grid, Smart City energy era | The Gov Monitor.

Australia today announced a $100 million plan for the country’s first commercial-scale “smart” grid to deliver electricity.

The “Smart Grid, Smart City” initiative will be a cooperative effort between the Australian government and the energy and communications sectors. The program has the potential to reduce home energy bills, reduce carbon pollution and help tackle climate change, the government says.

Australia has surpassed the United States as the world’s biggest per capita producer of carbon emissions.

“From the power plant to the power point, smart grids enable a two-way flow of information between energy suppliers and consumers,” Environment Minister Peter Garrett said in a release. “Linking all these energy data points creates a web of information so that energy can be delivered where and when it is required. The potential economic benefits of creating an Internet for the energy industry are staggering.”

via Australia Plans Smart Electricity Grid to Reduce Energy Pollution and Carbon Pollution.