I attended and presented Smart Grid issues and methods at this conference in Tucson. There was much exceptionally good content, and lots of opportunities to network with electric cooperatives and vendors. I heard several things in the presentations that I thought were particularly useful.
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Written by Steve Collier | Nov 20, 2009
You all know that I have strongly supported Kurt Yeager’s view that most of the ARRA SMIGs will not really advance a truly Smart Grid. Read Smart Grid Today’s report of Kurt’s favorite SGIGs at Yeagers Favorite SGIGs
Written by Steve Collier | Nov 16, 2009
Milsoft Utility Solutions’ fellow Hometown Connections vendor partner, Gridpoint, has acquired ADMMicro to expand its market focus to include commercial and industrial consumers.
Written by Steve Collier | Nov 09, 2009
This Thursday and Friday will be the Minnesota Rural Electric Association Conference “Accessing the Electric Cooperative Market for Renewable Energy” in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Written by Steve Collier | Nov 09, 2009
I was recently delighted to find a brand new electronic meter on my house. It was put there by one of the most progressive public power systems in the nation (i.e., Austin Energy). Yet, I still get billed the very same way as if I still had that 100+ year old electromechanical meter technology mounted on the East wall of my home. Some time after the utility reads the meter (now without having to send a live person into my neighborhood to do it), I get a bill in the mail or I can view it online. It is a total dollar amount for my energy consumption for the past billing period, about a month. There is no detail at all about by day of the month or by time of day. There is no information at all about which of my appliances account for what portion of the total. Even if some or all of this information were available, by the time that I get the bill, I have already made the decisions that caused my energy consumption and spending for that billing period.
Written by Steve Collier | Nov 04, 2009
Most of what is being offered today as smart metering is mature automatic meter reading (AMR) technology which, in some cases, has additional functionality (e.g., time of use (TOU) metering, service status (on/off) monitoring and reporting, remote disconnect, etc.). While the newest generation of AMR devices represents substantially more advanced technology than the 100+ year old, electromechanical meter, it is pretty much yesterday’s not tomorrow’s technology. The industry conversation about smart metering focuses on meters that will provide customers with and base utility billing on accurate, time-of-use price signals with the expectation that customers will greatly reduce and more carefully schedule their energy consumption in ways that will achieve a panoply of goals most of which are more immediately beneficial to the electric utility than to the consumer. Utility experience suggests that better information on energy consumption and pricing can yield some benefits resulting from changes in consumer behavior. Much more is required, and much more is possible. What will be required for a truly Smart Grid is something substantially different and better, a quantum leap, not an incremental evolution of AMR.
Written by Steve Collier | Nov 02, 2009