Carl Ford takes us back to the 1950s when thorium was understood to be a better, safer alternative than uranium for nuclear reactors. So why did the industry choose uranium?
An early victim of this weekend's Northeast snowstorm (and without a working fireplace), Carl Ford is looking at ways to gain some control when the power goes out. Click inside to see why he thinks an electric car may be the answer.
You would think from reading the news coverage (including ours) on energy efficiency opportunities in commercial buildings that most everyone gets it and is on board. SGN News Editor Doug Peeples recently found out that's not necessarily the case. The reasons why may surprise you.
Are there right ways and wrong ways to foster a security-conscious climate throughout an organization? Our smart grid security ace Andy Bochman has been listening to utility cybersecurity pros telling tales about what's worked – and not – for them. And he's reached a conclusion that could work for your utility. Details inside.
Smart grid security ace Andy Bochman takes on The Economist for its smart grid coverage. One day he says the esteemed publication is fanning the flames with scare tactics, the next it offers a sound defense of smart grid benefits. What gives? Click inside for Andy's take.
Cyber attackers extracted thousands of sensitive files from the defense department by targeting some of its service providers. That should be a wake-up call for utilities, suggests smart grid security expert Andy Bochman, who offers tips on how to determine if your providers' security policies are as good as they should be.
NERC will host a cybersecurity exercise dedicated to incident response in the North American electricity sector. Smart grid security ace Andy Bochman has the details you'll need.
The California PUC is moving toward formalizing privacy rules for its three big investor-owned utilities. Our smart grid security whiz Andy Bochman is rooting for them – and hopes the folks in California will too. Find out why.
Another round of cyber security attacks dubbed Night Dragon is targeting the energy sector. Night Dragon seems to have zeroed in on oil and gas companies, but smart grid security expert Andy Bochman says electric utilities should heed the warning just the same.
The first federal grades of 2011 suggest room for improvement on the smart grid security front. Andy Bochman provides quick summaries of GAO and DOE reports issued last month and his somewhat sobering take-aways.
Digesting the latest on NERC-CIP, our resident security expert Andy Bochman explains why he’s excited to track the Standards Development Team’s progress on the very ambitious V5.
President Obama called for one million electric vehicles on U.S. roads by 2015. TVA and EPRI took the wraps off an EV charging station that can make and store electricity from sunlight. And Toyota announced that despite challenging market conditions, its hybrid sales were up 29% last year. It's been a newsy week on the electric car front – and that's just a slice of it.
Andy Bochman has a quick post to get the word out about an important FERC meeting on Jan. 31 to explore smart grid interoperability and security standards development past, present and future.
As the future becomes the present, Andy Bochman maintains it's more urgent than ever for power companies to attract engineers capable of designing, managing and maintaining the new systems the smart grid demands. Where will they come from? He's got thoughts on that inside.
Grid modernization might be a lot simpler in a country ruled by a clear-thinking and decisive dictator. Security expert Andy Bochman suggests centralized direction could crush cultural and bureaucratic inertia. But taking it full circle, he finds you've got to be careful what you wish for.
The smart meter gloom-and-doom fest is cranking up. Now we're seeing sign-waving protesters on street corners, websites selling anti-smart meter bumper stickers – and the media eating it up. But security expert Andy Bochman wonders if these modern-day Luddites aren't giving technology too much credit.
Tension is building in the smart grid security standards world and Andy Bochman is here with a blow-by-blow report along with a brief heads-up on what to expect in the NERC CIP arena come 2011.
No organization is bullet-proof, but security expert Andy Bochman suggests in the wake of WikiLeaks, every electric utility should be questioning every foundational assumption about security and privacy controls. He explains why inside.
Security expert Andy Bochman is here with a positive spin on the financial state of the utility industry and some thoughts on how energized investors could add momentum to the smart grid build-out.
Brave utilities that are pioneering smart grid technologies get a hats off today from smart grid security expert Andy Bochman, who lauds their guts and willingness to take a few calculated risks.
We can do everything in our power to bulk up smart grid security in this country, but expert Andy Bochman says if one of our key allies or trading partners have their grids knocked out by successful and sustained cyber attacks, we'll be hurting too. The solution? He's got a few ideas.
Security expert Andy Bochman says there'll be trouble (that's trouble with an "s" as in security) when cars and the grid eventually get together. But he's optimistic that we can figure out those security issues and that cars will be as safe (or safer?) than they are today.
Andy Bochman just spent a week in Texas where he picked up interesting updates on what major players (as in EPRI, GM, IBM, Oncor and others) are doing to prep for EVs and V2G. Plus he got some drive time in a Chevy Volt. Don’t miss his report.
In a recent conference call hosted by Macquarie Capital, the head of BGE smart grid initiatives talked about benefits of a smart grid rollout, regulatory challenges and the decision to partner with Silver Spring Networks. We’ve got analyst highlights from the call.
We're getting mixed signals about the vitality of the smart grid market. On the one hand, the recent DistribuTECH conference was one of the most successful ever. On the other, a well-known Wall Street analyst recently told his clients that the smart metering sector is "facing several headwinds," including weak regulatory support in the U.S. and delays in European adoption. Taking the pulse of the smart grid industry is this week's Tuesday Topic.
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