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Smart Grid and Renewable Technologies May See Double Digit Growth in Five Years
Aug 28th
Aug 27, 2010
Renewable energy technologies, fueled by worldwide government support in the form of stimulus programs and other incentives, have improved the global economic outlook with new jobs and industry. Six will hit double digit growth in the next five years — and change our lifestyle, according to a series of market studies from SBI Energy. Here’s what the industrial market research company found:
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Car Companies and Utilities Face Similar Challenges in the Coming of Age of Smart Technologies
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Increased Demand and Industrial Growth Pushing Global Spending on T&D
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Loading ...U.S. electricity blackouts skyrocketing – CNN.com
Aug 12th
By Thom Patterson, CNN
August 9, 2010 7:36 a.m. EDT | Filed under: Innovation
New Yorker Philip Wilentz powers his TV with a car cigarette lighter during 2003′s massive blackout. STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Non-disaster U.S. power outages up 124 percent since early ’90s
- U.S. electricity reliability low compared to some nations
- Experts: “Smart grid” would avert blackouts, save billions
- Austin “Easy Button” controls tens of thousands of Texas thermostats
(CNN) — New York’s Staten Island was broiling under a life-threatening heat wave and borough President James Molinaro was seriously concerned about the area’s Little League baseball players. It was last July’s Eastern heat wave and Consolidated Edison was responding to scattered More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...GTM Research: United States Smart Grid Policy 2010
Aug 10th
Stephen Munro munro@gtmresearch.com
JULY 26, 2010
United States Smart Grid Policy 2010IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS OF TEN KEY STATES DRIVING DEPLOYMENT
The smart grid will be an essential component of state power scenarios as energy efficiency and renewable energy mandates proliferate across the United States. Since 2009, the Federal government has awarded US$4.5 billion in stimulus funds to spur smart grid investment and demonstration. With this injection of funds and the near-term potential of a scaling smart grid, state legislators, regulators, utilities and grid operators are surveying the stakes of commercial integration and laying boundaries for the sector via policy and pilot initiatives.
Report Atlas More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Demand Response, Meet Customer Engagement
Aug 10th
KATHERINE TWEED: AUGUST 9, 2010 Demand Response, Meet Customer Engagement
From EnergyConnect’s new DR platform to TXU Energy expanding its iThermostat program, consumer preferences are getting more play in DR.
It’s hot. Gross-hot, not “let’s get outside and enjoy the sunshine!” hot. Although most of the country has recently enjoyed a brief respite from sweltering conditions, it’s still pretty damn hot.
The steamy conditions are making demand response to cut critical peak load on the grid more important than ever. While DR has been growing at a good clip in recent years, there has also started to be a shift in how some vendors are approaching the market.
As More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Report Finds 99.96% of Texas Smart Meters Accurate — Energy | The Texas Tribune
Jul 30th
by Kate Galbraith July 30, 2010
A new report has found that Texas’s smart meters are accurate in 99.96 percent of cases.
The report by Navigant Consulting, released today, had been commissioned by the Public Utility Commission in the wake of a crush of complaints about the meters, which are being rolled out across Texas. A class action lawsuit was also filed against Oncor earlier this year due to smart meters concerns.
“It is Navigant Consulting’s opinion … that the vast majority of advanced meters currently installed by Oncor, CenterPoint and AEP Texas are accurately measuring and recording electric usage, as well as communicating that information through the respective advanced More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Swept Away ― How the Smart Grid Tsunami Could Destroy Utilities (And What to Do About It)
Jul 21st
Jul 20, 2010
It’s easy to figure a strategy for surviving a tidal wave … run like hell for the high ground.
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It’s more difficult to apply that thinking to the Smart Grid. We can see the wave is about to hit the shore… but which way is the high ground? Should a utility start offering all sorts of new energy services behind the meter? Or become a wires-only utility and leave the new services to others? Or compete with the EnerNOCs of the world? Or partner with them? Or emigrate to New Zealand to herd sheep?
Often guidance lies n the experiences More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...The Good News and Bad News about Cisco’s Smart Grid Strategy
Jul 19th
Jul 15, 2010
In separate stories, we’ve described how Cisco’s home energy management initiative reveals the underpinnings of the grid’s first operating system. And how Microsoft’s bureaucratic stupidity caused it to miss this billion-dollar opportunity.
I want to use this space to discuss the good and bad aspects of Cisco’s Smart Grid strategy from the utility point of view. Remember, I’m talking here about Cisco’s strategy, not about its current offerings, which still fall far short of the company’s long-term goals.
Let’s Start with the Good News
There is a lot to like about the idea of a standard operating system for the grid. For instance:
· A target for More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Challenges to Cisco’s Smart Grid Strategy
Jul 19th
Jul 15, 2010
Cisco is one of America’s great companies. But that doesn’t mean it has a lock on creating thegrid’s first operating system. I see at least five challenges in its way.
Finding the right business model. Can Cisco really foist the cloud computing model onto utilities? After all, utilities make money by building and owning assets. Those assets go into their rate base, on which they earn a regulated return. And utilities notoriously prefer to have close control of all their systems.
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Helping utilities find the right business model. Today, utilities are asked to spend enormous amounts on Smart Grid equipment that More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Cisco Smart Grid Strategy: The Grid’s First Operating System
Jul 19th
Jul 15, 2010
More than a year ago, I gave you an early warning of Cisco’s end-to-end smart grid strategy. Later in 2009, Tulane professor Geoffrey Parker stopped by with an important survival guide to the impending smart grid platform.
With the recent announcement of the Cisco home energy management solution, Cisco’s Smart Grid strategy is becoming ever more clear. The company describes its offerings as “an innovation platform.” I think you’ll get a better sense of its impact if you think of it as the grid’s first operating system.
In this article, I’ll quickly review the home energy offering. Elsewhere in this issue, More >
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...New Cost Allocation Methodology Unveiled by Midwest ISO
Jul 19th
Jul 16, 2010 4:19 PM Midwest ISO
After more than 19 months of collaborative work with its stakeholders, the Midwest ISO filed its proposed cost allocation methodology for new transmission projects. Multi Value Projects (MVPs), transmission projects that have a regional impact and are part of a regional plan, will now have a 100% regional allocation of costs, pending the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval.
“This system will fairly and equitably share the cost of projects that benefit the entire region and enable the Midwest ISO and its members to continue delivering low cost and reliable energy to the region,” said John Bear, president More >
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