Problems loom, says NERC... Smart Grid for San Diego?... Meter data is key

NERC warns of big problems, suggests solutions. In its new 10-year forecast, the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) warns the U.S. and Canada of problems ahead. Demand is forecasted to increase by 19% in the U.S. and 13% in Canada, but supply by only 6% in the US and 9% in Canada. NERC says North America urgently needs new generation, new transmission projects and more demand response. The report identified Texas, New England, the Mid-Atlantic, the Mid-West and the Rocky Mountain area as regions likely to encounter severe problems.

   QuickTake: Now that NERC has changed from a voluntary industry group to a reliability organization with enforcement abilities, its recommendations carry even more weight. This report is an important validation of the need for grid modernization and for the role of demand response.

   NERC press release (PDF)

   Platts article

   Statesmen article

   Utility T&D Online article

Report validates Smart Grid for San Diego. In its recently released “San Diego smart grid study,” the Energy Policy Initiatives Center (EPIC) at the University of San Diego is favorable to the use of Smart Grid technologies in that region. The report explains benefits such as reduced service outages, lower congestion costs, increased asset utilization, improved security and tolerance to natural disasters as well as integration of distributed energy resources.

   QuickTake: This report is one of the first to put real numbers to the Smart Grid business case, evaluating not just benefits to the utility, but also to the community at large. It will be helpful to any utility trying to understand how and whether a Smart Grid can pay for itself.

   EPIC report (PDF)

MDM is the need of the hour. Utilities must invest in meter data management systems (MDM) to get the true benefits of advanced metering, according to an article in Utility Automation & Engineering T&D. MDM allows different departments to access the data and work together at the enterprise level to get full value from advanced metering. But MDM can be a success only if different departments allocate sufficient resources and time to make it work.

   QuickTake: The full benefits of advanced metering occur only when information and services flow smoothly across departments. There is an immediate need for standardization of enterprise-integrated MDM to make it easy for different applications to plug and play.

   Utility Automation & Engineering T&D article

Advanced metering and outage management work together. Recent stories highlight success integrating advanced metering and outage management. Utilities can reduce outage time, improve service reliability and increase customer satisfaction. Industry standards like ANSI C12.19 and C12.22, IEC 61968, and MultiSpeak are instrumental in marrying the two applications.

   QuickTake: Utilities that think of advanced metering merely as a way to get more accurate bills or time-of-use rates will find that advanced meters can also dramatically improve outage management while reducing costs.

   UtiliPoint article

   PowerMarketers.com