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Continues on page 2 >> By Liz Enbysk
SGN Managing Editor
Remember what you were doing back in 2002? Jimmy Carter was getting the Nobel Peace Prize. Steve Fossett became the first person to fly solo around the world nonstop in a balloon. Kelly Clarkson won Season One of American Idol. And Jesse
In its infancy, Smart Grid News was funded in part by a Department of Energy grant and subscribers received a news digest twice a month. By 2004, an ad-supported website emerged to supplement the email digest.
As we launch our Next 10 Years series, we thought it would be interesting first to take a look at where we've been. We’ve pulled together some of the most impactful news from the last decade. We hope you'll use the Talk Back comment form to add your insights.
Feb. 2005: Quick! What’s the single most valuable thing you can do to accelerate the adoption of the Smart Grid?
Jesse's answer: Pray for more blackouts.
He explained: Now, before you call Homeland Security to put me on the No-Fly List, let me admit that I’m not seriously proposing we engineer a blackout. These days, blackouts cost billions in economic loss. These days, blackouts even cause deaths. Electricity is no longer a convenience. It has become essential to our way of life, permeating everything from health care to manufacturing to finance… Yet improving the grid is both important and increasingly urgent. The infrastructure will take decades to renew. Every day we delay makes us more vulnerable to accident or attack. (Conservative estimates put the annual cost to the economy from service interruptions at more than $80B.) Every delay runs the risk that other regions -- the UK, Canada, Germany, Japan, even China -- will leapfrog us in the race to a next-generation system. And every delay imposes a “tax” on American industry in the form of higher costs and more frequent outages.
Worth noting: We didn't get another major blackout -- but we did get Superstorm Sandy, which has motivated several mayors and governors to publicly call for more grid modernization.
Aug. 2005: Why we're selling advanced metering all wrong... and how to sell it right
Passage of the Energy Bill – with its metering and demand response provisions – made advanced metering the topic of the day. Yet according to one of the country’s top experts, the industry was not approaching this opportunity in the right way. Consultant and former EPRI VP Mark Gabriel explained his thinking in a guest column.
The U.S. electric industry is embarking on the greatest customer revolution since the early days of electrification. Subtle changes in the industry’s cash register – the meter -- coupled with the empowerment of the consumer in virtually every buying decision, will result in profound changes.
Worth noting: What a prescient guest editorial! As Mark implied, our industry's lack of focus on customer benefits (including benefits such as reliability) came back to haunt us via consumer pushback and rate reductions.
June 2006: Four coming catastrophes (and how to make the best of them)
Jesse pointed out that at least four catastrophes face the electric power industry and predicted all four were likely to arrive within the next five years. Surprisingly, he wrote, they could be good news for the renewal of the grid. They could provide the urgency and the financial support needed to make important changes.
I am certainly not hoping for catastrophes and disasters. But it doesn’t do us any good to put our heads in the sand. If these disasters do occur, then it’s our job to find the silver lining. One possible benefit: they could provide the impetus and motivation to renew our electric infrastructure.
1. Global warming and carbon restrictions
2. The aging workforce and the pending manpower shortage
3. Hurricanes and other natural disasters
4. The threat of terrorist attack
Worth noting: Only #3 has hit in a big way, but all four continue to loom.
. Aug. 2007: Future of the grid is DC power?
We featured a provocative article from The Economist proposing that a Europe-wide grid could be built using direct current (DC) as opposed to the today's alternating current (AC). AC was chosen originally because it loses less power over short distances and early distribution grids were small. DC proponents rely on the premise that future power will be generated long distances from where it is used. For example, solar power generated in the Sahara being used in North America. In that scenario, DC, which loses less power over long distances and can be built closer to the ground, would have an advantage over a grid using AC. Jesse's quick take on the story reminded that:
The smart grid is not just about digitization of the grid. The smart grid is only going to happen with innovative thinking across the board, even if it means adopting ideas that have already been considered and discarded.
Worth noting: Just last month we ran a story about ABB claiming a breakthrough in DC transmission and as Jesse noted: Not only can old dogs learn new tricks. They can invent them.
In March 2008, SGN's Philip Bane sat down with Spencer Abraham, Secretary of Energy from 2001 to 2004, who talked about a program he believed would accelerate grid modernization while simultaneously stimulating the ailing real estate market. The discussion revolved around an economic stimulus built around energy efficiency; Abraham suggested the country could climb out of the economic downturn, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and build the smart grid all at the same time by:
· Fully funding existing DOE programs. Existing programs such as Energy Saving Performance Contracts (which led to the ESCO industry) and the budget of DOE’s Electricity office need to be fully funded.
· Emphasizing smart, green buildings. Although there has been some emphasis on passive energy measures, Abraham suggests third parties and utilities combine to fund energy efficiency measures that convert new and existing buildings into "smart, green buildings." Those buildings would then be the engine for demand response programs selling negawatts back to the utilities. The revenue earned by building owners would pay back the loans used to build or retrofit. Once the loan is paid back, the building owner has a new source of income.
In Abraham's vision, government would set the policy and requirements. Private money would be used to reduce energy consumption, restore small business, create jobs, provide a return to investors and implement demand response - a core element of the smart grid.
Worth noting: This idea is too logical and too beneficial for our current Congress. They wouldn't want to accidentally enact legislation that benefits the country because they'd be afraid the other side might get some credit. But it remains a great concept and one that the private sector is beginning to embrace (minus the kickbacks to the government, of course).
Aug. 2008: Why Gore and Pickens have energy backwards (and Kevin Costner had it right)
Introducing a guest post, Jesse wrote: Bless Al Gore and T. Boone Pickens for proposing ambitious energy plans. But when it comes to the smart grid, both of them are suggesting “if they come, then we will build it.” Sorry, but that’s backwards. Any realistic national energy policy must start with grid modernization. Alex Zheng explains why if we build it, prosperity will come:
At the beginning of the last century, nobody suggested that every American should first buy a telephone and then hope that someday someone would string the wires. At the beginning of the 1990s, nobody suggested everybody should first buy a computer and web browser and then hope that someday someone would build an Internet. Yet that’s what we are hearing from Gore and Pickens and so many others. Their motto: “If they come, somebody will build it.” Wrong. Kevin Costner had it right in the movie Field of Dreams when he heard the voice saying “If you build it, they will come.” If we modernize our electric power infrastructure, new industries and new opportunities will appear that will renew America’s competitive advantage.
Worth noting: We continue to be frustrated that our industry is still largely reactive instead of proactive. We think a proactive message about grid renewal would resonate with many interest groups, especially business.
Jan. 2009: Obama: We must build the smart grid
We've been reporting on the role of the smart grid in Obama's campaign and expected stimulus package for some time. Now that promise is finally taking shape as Obama attempts to sell Congress and Americans in general on his proposals.
Worth noting: We had the dominos all lined up, but it took the stimulus bill to knock the first one down and start a bonafide land rush in the smart grid sector. . May 2009: Cisco certifies smart grid as the next big thing
Cisco Systems powers many of the world’s biggest networks, including the Internet, cable systems, and telecommunications networks. Now it is revealing that it sees the smart grid as the next big opportunity, remaking grid connectivity in the image of the Internet. As Jesse Berst reveals in his analysis, the announcement opens the door to Silicon Valley-style innovation and startups. But it also sounds a death knell for vendors who cling to proprietary solutions. .
Sept. 2009 – a month to remember
The fall of 2009 seems to represent a significant period in the smart grid's short history. See if you agree; here are just a few of our headlines from that period. .
· What about consumers? The missing piece to the smart grid puzzle – Until now, much of smart grid writing and education has overlooked the consumer. Yet consumer participation is vital to achieving the maximum load reduction from demand response technologies. In the first part of a series on consumers and the smart grid, Joe Miller explains what is needed to garner customer support. .
· DOE picks solar panel maker Solyndra for first Recovery Act loan guarantee – Solyndra, Inc., a Fremont-based photovoltaic panel designer and manufacturer, has won a $535 million DOE loan guarantee, and is the first to do so under the Recovery Act. The money will finance the first phase of construction for the company's new manufacturing facility. Solyndra designs and manufactures photovoltaic systems that incorporate its proprietary cylindrical modules and thin-film technology. Note: Fast forward two years and the company declared bankruptcy and was being investigated by the FBI. .
· California senator questions value of PG&E smart meters – California State Senator Dean Florez (D-Shafter), in response to numerous complaints from consumers regarding high utility bills, has scheduled a hearing in early October to bring together consumers and representatives from Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and the state's Public Utilities Commission. The senator has asked for proof from PG&E that a single utility customer has saved money with a smart meter. .
· NIST unveils initial smart grid interoperability standards – Commerce Secretary Gary Locke on Thursday released a draft report on the Smart Grid interoperability standards developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The report is actually an accelerated framework for continued development of the standards. It includes roughly 80 initial standards intended to make the vast array of interconnected systems and devices that comprise the smart grid work together to provide a secure, efficient, sustainable and environmentally friendly national electric grid.
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Nov. 2009: Meter maker shakedown: the 5 that will survive
This story attracted a lot of interest. Jesse wrote:
As I’ve been warning for a while, there are too many meter vendors with similar product lines. What’s more, profit margins are migrating away from the hardware and towards the communications, network and software. So I called on all of the insiders and vendors I’ve been interviewing to come up with the top five meter makers who will still be around for Smart Grid 2.0. See if you agree with me. His top 5: Echelon, Elster, GE, Itron and Landis+Gyr
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Dec. 2009: SGN 10 in 2010
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