Results from the second wave of the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative's Consumer Pulse study reveal that there are smart grid benefits that resonate with consumers beyond reducing their monthly electric bill. SGCC Executive Director Patty Durand outlines the findings and actions her organization is taking in response.
Over breakfast with Thierry Godart, president of Siemens' smart grid division in the U.S., SGN Chief Analyst Jesse Berst learned that for Siemens, 2012 is going to be all about integration - and that Siemens wants to be the leading smart grid integrator. Click for a peek at the three areas that Siemens is targeting - and how Jesse thinks this old school company's prospects shape up against new school competitors.
Given the dangers and costs, what would motivate a well-known cyber security researcher to release detailed vulnerabilities for specific, critical infrastructure products? EnerNex Chairman and CTO Erich Gunther suspects the release - which really did happen - reflects how fed up the security community is. It's tired of being ignored by vendors and utilities that live with known vulnerabilities rather than fix them. As Erich explains, there's way more than most of us realize at stake here.
You'll be hearing a lot more about Big Data - and chances are some of it will come from state regulators. IBM's Sunil Soares expects PUCs will become increasingly assertive about protecting consumers' privacy rights in the context of Big Data. That's one reason, he says, utilities need to heed governance best practices for smart meter data. He suggests four you ought to start with.
If utilities want to be best in class at customer engagement, they should look at practices used in competitive service industries to help them tailor their offers and communication strategies to the right segments of the market. That was one of the takeaways from the recent Smart Grid Consumer Symposium. SGCC Executive Director Patty Durand has more.
The smart grid communications space is already noisy and contentious. But a UK company is making the case that we should consider yet another option, this time TV white space. Click for their argument in favor, and our word of caution.
Security veteran Ernie Hayden can tell some scary stories about lax security practices he's been eyewitness to during utility site visits. He worries there's too much emphasis on security compliance rather than true protection on both the physical and cyber fronts. The fix? Click for five steps he believes every utility should take now to 'bake in' security organization-wide.
Brian Warshay of Lux Research outlines the highlights of a California Public Utilities Commission proposal for an energy storage policy that lays out the barriers to storage adoption – and a roadmap to deal with them. Get the lowdown on why stakeholders should be keeping an eye on this one.
As utilities prepare for smart meter roll outs, the CEO of UK-based Sentec suggests a key consideration for the IT infrastructure associated with those roll outs should be the capability to both store data and relay it back to the consumer in an easily digestible format. Click for Mark England's perspective on how to go about that.
A recent IBM global survey showed that up to three-quarters of consumers are concerned about the confidentiality and security of home energy use data. What to do? Matt Futch, Global Policy Director with IBM Energy & Utilities, argues that appropriately designed industry practices and regulatory guidance can help the energy ecosystem protect sensitive information. Click for his examples of how and where it's already happening.
Efforts to build new transmission and expand natural gas production in the U.S. have been a qualified success because of "studious" efforts to craft the right price signals and break down traditional monopolies on power generation and sales, former FERC Commissioner Marc Spitzer tells AOL Energy. Click for more of their wide-ranging interview.
You may have been thinking it, but Eran Ofir comes right out and says it: The single greatest roadblock to smart grid in the U.S. is regulation.The Convergys GM calls it a classic case of market need and technology outpacing the 'historic residue' of existing regulatory policy. Click to read what he says utilities should do right now to fix things.
Attracting venture capital for your company can be a tricky business, particularly if you don't know what investors are looking for and what they want to hear. Guest contributor Christopher Noonan shares advice from the pros on what to bring to the table.
Sprint's smart grid ambitions just got a major show of support with the announcement that four companies will directly support its cellular network, including Itron and Silver Spring Networks. SGN Chief Analyst Jesse Berst offers some perspective on what could be on the horizon for cellular communications and the smart grid.
One of the industry's leading thinkers has stopped by to suggest that we still have work to do before the smart grid can pass the tipping point. But Bridge Energy Group's David O'Brien isn't worried about technology. He thinks the sticking points are delivering operating performance and reforming regulations. He even thinks (gasp!) that utilities should step up to the plate and design the future they want for themselves.
The story of Tantalus illustrates two important trends. One is the proliferation of hybrid, mix-and-match communications systems that combine multiple pathways. The other is the growing focus on municipals and coops as the next frontier for smart grid innovation. Click for a close-up on what this intriguing Vancouver, B.C.-based smart grid communications company is doing - and why.
A major announcement today by networking giant Cisco will propel the smart grid (finally!) into truly plug-and-play, truly interoperable smart grid. Everybody needs to study what it means and quickly or risk being stranded on a proprietary island. Utilities need to decide whether to adopt some or all of the ideas embodied in Cisco's new reference architecture. Vendors need to decide whether to plug into the Cisco world, or to find another home. It's all inside, including details on the framework, on Cisco's new line of business, its new hardware and its intriguing new software.
The Internet's power will allow management of the home in ways that save energy and money automatically in its next stage of development, according to a pioneer in the online world. Click to read Peter Gardett's interview with AlertMe CEO Mary Turner.
In today's Discovery Showcase installment, SGN Chief Analyst Jesse Berst introduces a Silicon Valley startup and its first smart grid mission: to build a better, more integrated demand response. Click to learn how AutoGrid intends to lower the cost of demand response by 90% while increasing efficiency 30%.
Over the years, we've spent a lot of time at Smart Grid News talking about how best to communicate with meters and home area networks. But what about the growing need to communicate with substations, circuit breakers and transformers? As you will see in today's guest column by Andrejs Rozitis of FreeWave Technologies, new communications technologies are transforming that part of the grid as well.
Many are asking, “What is the Smart Grid?” Many more are trying to define it with short “sound bite” descriptions. These short statements cannot adequately convey the level of detail needed to provide a clear understanding. The smart grid isn’t a thing but rather a vision and to be complete, that vision must be expressed from various perspectives – its values, its characteristics, and the milestones for achieving it.
There was a lot going on in the smart grid world in 2011: major developments and advances, successes and failures, rising and falling trends, and a lot in between. But some of those stories seem to go on and on and on. Take a look at our roundup of the year's stories that just won't end.
To a certain segment of the U.S. population, saving money and debt control is a top priority, driving their do-it-yourself home improvement projects, energy savings and interest in smart grid pricing programs. In today's post, Patty Durand of the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative paints a fascinating picture of the so-called "DIY & Save" segment and explains how their frugal mindset impacts their support of smart grid programs.
Two recent wins for General Electric's Grid IQ offering signal not just where GE is headed. They also suggest two important trends for 2012. First, the move to "cloud-based" hosted services is under way in earnest. Second, many of the sector's biggest players are targeting coops and municipals for their next round of deals. Click for more on these trends and a look at how they are playing out at munis in Georgia and Florida.
Traditional outage management poses at least three challenges for electric utilities -- lack of timely reporting, slow restoration of nested outages and difficulty diagnosing single-customer outages. With a well-designed AMI system, utilities can overcome those issues, according to Chris Montgomery of Silver Spring Networks. Click to learn the six outage-management capabilities Chris says your AMI system should deliver.
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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