Smart Meter Paranoia: Could a Simple Toggle Switch or Software Fix Solve It?
Feb 23, 2010
The futuristic vision of the SmartGrid resembles an Orwellian existence complete with Big Brother peering through the metaphorical eyes of our electrical appliances, devices and vehicles. The possible consequences of unfettered access to our personal data concerning energy usage, coupled with the connection of electrical devices to intelligent networks, are a frightening prospect. In short, the future capabilities of the Smart Grid are nothing less than the ability to control and access information from anything that plugs into the electrical grid. This is essentially what makes the Smart Grid smart.
We may not be at that stage today, and it may take virtually decades to get to that point but, most assuredly, we will have those capabilities based upon today’s technology alone.
All of this sounds like an alarmist reaction to the natural course of technological advancement but, in reality, it is nothing more than the opportunity to better design the technologies we develop to be sensitive to social and cultural considerations.In this case, a compilation of a small set of insignificant design decisions made early in the visioning phase of architecting the Smart Grid could ensure the average individual the ability to control how much privacy they wish to enjoy.
As an example: Suppose design standards were developed to include a simple set of small toggle switches (or software) that have the ability to disable the external control of a device, the ability to disable reading of the device’s energy signature, and the ability to limit or disable access to personal data associated with it.
Then suppose we also had a design policy standard that the default position for all device switches, either hardware or software, was the “off” position, meaning the device is completely shut off from outside control or access. The combination of these two small design standards would have the powerful affect of doing two things:
1) Provide the “Opt In” privacy option to individuals who want total privacy
2) Provide economic and environmentally conscious individuals the ability to tailor the amount of privacy they give up
The real story here is not the limiting of functionality or privacy; it is the ability to intelligently design our emerging Smart Grid to be a resource to individuals and to avoid unintended consequences. The design of the Smart Grid will impact hundreds of millions of people, yet I would argue that we have done little to gather requirements from the average citizen about the fundamental basis for design.
Tim Kostyk is a member of Arizona State University’s Human and Social Dimensions of Science & Technology PhD Program. He is a TOGAF 9 Certified Enterprise Architect and trainer and sits on the IEEE Power and Engineering Society Smart Grid Planning Committee as well as participates in the IEEE Smart Grid p2030 Standards Workgroup. He can be e-mailed at Timothy.Kostyk@asu.edu
Reaping the Huge Opportunities with System Architecting
Tim Kostyk could say that, with the Investor Owned Utilities Architecture Framework (IOUs-AF) and its incremental extensions, of which the homogeneous Smart Grid is one example, "...I would argue that we have done little to gather requirements from the average citizen about the fundamental basis for design."
However, with the Electricity Without Price Control Architecture Framework (EWPC-AF), the job of Second Generation Retailers (2GRs - http://bit.ly/8t94ZR ) is to gather said requirements to develop ongoing business model innovations, using architecture to win technology war. Utilities’ investors that do not cannibalize the IOUs-AF to participate in the EWPC-AF are bound to repeat the story of the railroads in the great depression.
What is written below, that comes from a discussion about Smart Meters to which I added a post today, is adapted to answer a very intelligent and larger question written by someone else that fits very well here: What needs to be in place for that to be fair and reasonable for consumers to accept?
Following Peter Senge’s suggestion under the chapter heading “Leader as Designer,” of his book the Fifth Discipline, I see Smart Metering is just one of the technologies for the emerging whole Smart Power Service (SPS). The SPS is something larger than the Smart Grid and with very clear boundaries (end user energy services like heat, light, etc.), that is the result of integrating demand to power system planning, operation and control. Under said heading, Senge tells that in the airline industry, commercial air travel became possible when all of the required technologies became available and were tightly integrated.
In order to make commercial electricity cost effective for customers, I discovered that there is a need for a paradigm shift from away from the IOUs-AF, and into the emerging EWPC-AF, as explained here and in the article "EWPC as a Timely Basic Innovation ( http://bit.ly/7wZrWa )."
To get a fast introduction to the conceptual development process of the EWPC-AF, I suggest to look at the first and last articles, which are the 2005 “An Alternative Business Case for Demand Response ( http://bit.ly/bhInET ),” and the most recent “A Single System & the Enterprise War http://bit.ly/aGR8y1 ),” respectively.
José Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio, Ph.D. - 02/23/2010 - 18:08
Bloom Box and other micro gen
This comment doesn't pertain to your topic except tangentially. A root problem with the SG isn't 'paranoia' or even sensible wariness by consumers, but the fact of attractive alternatives.
There really are competing techs that are rapidly advancing. One that the SG industry must face is in-home micro generation. Just recently CBS 60 MINUTES aired a segment on a killer application known as the Bloom Box.
The SG ignores the reality that whole 100-year-old model of centralized-and-transmitted electricity generation is looking ever more fragile.
The Bloom Box is but one of several in-home powergen system steadily advancing from r&d to market.
Grids will soon be perceived as the outmoded dodo.
david engle - 02/24/2010 - 07:52
Privacy with the Smart Grid
There may be a simple way to put consumers in control of our own information as you suggest. At a minimum, it is needed. We will also need a business/legislative/regulatory environment that fully respects consumers. Currently, electronic information for other purposes is shared far more than is fair to consumers.
The principle needs to be that consumers own the data and have to have clear say about what happens to it and direct benefit if it IS sold or shared. Also, the businesses that want the data have to approach the issue with the clear understanding and respect for consumer ownership. Today, that is rare, so a paradigm shift is necessary.
Irene E. Leech - 02/24/2010 - 08:21
Thinking Systematically
Unless you are talking about converting local energy (solar, wind, geothermal) into a form useful for the consumer there's going to be a need for a grid of some sort. Time will tell what will become of Bloom Energy's proposed solution, but my understanding is that a "Bloom Box" needs a supply of natural gas to produce electricity. Today there's a big worry about the load electric vehicles will place on the power grid when everyone takes them home to be charged, think about the load on the natural gas grid when everyone switches from their current electric utility to their natural gas utility.
The "smart grid" is far more than an improved method for the utilities to reliably provide electrical power to its customers; it also provides a means by which I can sell excess electrical power generated by the solar panels on my roof to my neighbors who may not happen to have generating capability.
The "smart grid" is a system which allows people individually and collectively to have more control over their energy supply and usage. People will be able to choose to do little or nothing to their current consumption characteristics, or to embrace the new infrastructure and use it to their advantage.
BTW, the "smart grid" means more than the infrastructure for providing electrical power; it is already working its way into the natural gas supply, and I believe the water infrastructure will become linked to the "smart grid" over time as well.
Steve Buchholz - 02/24/2010 - 08:32
Forget About Big Brother
"he futuristic vision of the SmartGrid resembles an Orwellian existence complete with Big Brother peering through the metaphorical eyes of our electrical appliances, devices and vehicles. The possible consequences of unfettered access to our personal data concerning energy usage, coupled with the connection of electrical devices to intelligent networks, are a frightening prospect. In short, the future capabilities of the Smart Grid are nothing less than the ability to control and access information from anything that plugs into the electrical grid. This is essentially what makes the Smart Grid smart. "
I could write a pretty lengthy note that refutes all of these notions. What makes the smart grid smart is the market actors, not the ability for some Orwellian existence. Utilities should not be able to peer into our homes and businesses, and they should not be able to control our lives and appliances any more than the local grocery store should be able to peer into our refrigerators and pantries. Electricity is not as different from the many other goods and services we buy and there is no reason to think it has to be centrally managed to a degree that exists no where else in our economy.
Anyone who thinks customers will put up with having someone else control their lifestyle choices in the name of energy efficiency or any other social good is living in a fantasy world. The necessary ingredient of a Smart Grid is information, partly in the form of actionable prices, partly in standards that allow individual devices to receive price information, and partly in consumer education.
Jack Ellis - 02/24/2010 - 08:42
Smart Grid issues
There are many misunderstandings about the SG because it is technically complicated and as yet undefined for the most part. The SG is required by utilities to embrace renewable energy (PV, Wind)which is variable. When in home electrical production takes place, the SG can take back excess power for the benefit of all including buying this power from the producer; hence they are NOT incompatible.
The idea of the switch is a good exercise in thinking this through but is a bit of fantasy in today's technology. For example, the Lexus has a push button switch to turn on ignition and yet people are killed from run away acceleration; did they forget to push the switch to turn it off or did it not function as you think a switch ought to work? Ask Toyota? We have moved too far from this simple concept of switch control. When you turn off your computer or printer, it is still drawing current in ready mode and many printers do not even have a power switch. When you reboot your computer it turns itself off and then on again; so what does the "switch" really do?
Did your cell phone or laptop ever need a battery removal because it would not turn off? The SG Utility would have to know if the switch is turned off or turned on to do the intended function. At that point to find out what is really going on you need an audit in a large set of distributed data bases. How does that make you feel about your real control over your meter switch...or the push button ignition switch on your car?
Personally I think the whole issue of privacy on my power consumption is irrelevant in today's world because anyone (hackers, NSA, FBI, businesses,insurance companies)can tap by email, telephones, credit and medical history without my knowing it. Lets get over the illusions! If the states mandate user privacy is the law and permission is needed then so be it; the rest is implementation and tracking for abuse like any other privacy issue which is largely an illusion in reality. By the way, the states regulate the utilities today, not the federal government. This makes the SG a real challenge in regulation for issues of national importance as well as privacy on consumption.
Thanks for the thought provoking ideas on trying to get through this. More on the consumer benefit related issues can be found at my Google Group
SmartGridBoulder.
Carl Kalin - 02/24/2010 - 09:04
Privacy Solution
Oooh! I may be onto something. First, have a home controller that is separate from the meter. The home controller controls loads, and receives pricing ONE WAY (by law under criminal penalty) from the meter. If you need to download something into the home controller, you use whatever network your personal computer is on. You'll very likely buy the configuration from a third party. The home controller can also be shipped back and forth when it needs to be upgraded, without a service call, unlike the meter.
However, someone could still monitor your power draw moment by moment and infer what you were doing. So (the cool idea), legally limit readings of the meter to once per day, or week or whatever. The way you make this work is that the utility transmits pricing data TO the meter frequently, and the meter accumulates the monetary billing information while never sending out demand info.
The meter may as well make overall demand info available in real time to the home controller (NOT the utility).
Maybe this has problems, but I thought it was interesting.
Pete Cann - 02/24/2010 - 14:53
More on the Huge Opportunities of System Architecting
I know that these discussions do not need to bring a closure. But, with a direction towards closure in mind, and your kind permission, I will try to integrate the above comments in this post, which is entirely written for your considerations if you like. To save some words, I will star with the EWPC article "Forget Demand Side Management (DSM); Think Demand Side Innovation (DSI)" which can be read at the link http://bit.ly/8LtybG
To start, please correct me if I am wrong, but the whole idea of DSM on the homogeneous regulated architecture Smart Grid is that most of the power production would be kept centralized. That in itself makes david engle's post not tangential at all. It goes to the fundamental design issues that Tim Kostyk has suggested, making DSM a very risky proposition, as customer generation market share becomes dominant. It gets even worst when we add the assumptions of an incremental approach to the future, starting with a homogeneous Smart Grid that wants to force a Smart Meter on every customer.
So david's post seems to strongly supports the idea that "Utilities’ investors that do not cannibalize the IOUs-AF to participate in the technology neutral EWPC-AF are bound to repeat the story of the railroads in the great depression." I guess Carl Kalin should very closely to that experience, now that we are in a similar depression.
I guess Steve Buchholz brings out the need for a vibrant retail market. Systemically, the retail and wholesale markets would mutually reinforce each other, enabling a virtuous circle. I think the vibrant retail market fits very well with the idea of one stop service Second Generation Retailers, as they develop business model innovations that integrate DSIs. Those innovations would enable huge coordination savings on customers’ investments and operating costs, which would otherwise be lost in an everyone for himself costly disorder.
As every customer is able to choose the Second Generation Retailer of their choice, with the paradigm shift to the EWPC-AF, I think Irene Leech concerns get minimized, while Jack Ellis suggestion to Forget About Big Brother gets even stronger. That is kind of robust. We will even see if Pete Cann is “onto something.” In addition, as the EWPC-AF makes no assumption on the market share of supply side and demand side generation output, it brings out another characteristic that make it a very robust architecture framework.
José Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio, Ph.D. - 02/24/2010 - 15:52
Errata on My Last Post
Please change:
"To save some words, I will star..." to "To save some words, I will start..."
"To start, please correct me if I am wrong..." to "Please correct me if I am wrong..."
"I guess Carl Kalin should very closely..." to "I guess Carl Kalin should look very closely..."
José Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio, Ph.D. - 02/24/2010 - 22:08
Simpler Privacy
Removing needless detail from what I said, the meter could transmit pricing directly to each load via carrier current, with no central control, but if you want central control you buy that stuff. Obviously, formats would be standardized.
The meter would, by law under criminal penalty, transmit no use information upstream except dollars and cents, lump sum, once a week.
What about demand response? I think it's a bit eccentric in a context of dynamic pricing. Why pay me for not using something I'm not using anyway, when you can pay my neighbor to suspend using what she is using?
Load leveling over time within one occupancy is also probably, generally needless, because dynamic pricing does the job across the whole community.
Pete Cann - 02/25/2010 - 22:03
Bye Bye Privacy
We'll probably be told that the value of real-time demand readings is so great for engineering purposes that the case is compelling. What you don't want to do is go to a lot of trouble keeping your meter clean, only to have them put an additional, remote-read meter at the pole or hole. Oh, and I was dead wrong about something else, because the meter should be able to transmit voltage measurements (phasors, if possible) upstream for engineering purposes. Privacy is probably a lost cause, because they're going to want 100% smart meters for engineering benefits.
(Another oversight: If carrier current is used for pricing, thermostats will need an adapter somewhere along the line with access to house current.)
So what legislation do we need for our remaining tatters of privacy, realistically? We want nondisclosure.
Pete Cann - 02/25/2010 - 23:33
An Update to Pete Cann is Onto Something
On the funny side; this is an update to "More on the Huge Opportunities of System Architecting," that replaces Pete Cann's "onto something."
Peta Cann is onto something on the Smart Meter paranoia as he responds to the author about his "... futuristic vision of the SmartGrid [that] resembles an Orwellian existence complete with Big Brother peering through the metaphorical eyes of our electrical appliances, devices and vehicles."
José Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio, Ph.D. - 02/26/2010 - 02:46
Consumers can take control now
There are many reasons for the utilities to upgrade the grid infrastructure and it will happen. But what is even more powerful is we know that consumers are becoming more engaged in their electricity consumption.
We know access to better information - real time information can make a huge difference. There are many academic, utility sponsored and manufacturer sponsored research studies and the general conclusion is just better information alone can reduce consumption by 5-15%. For a family spending $100 - $250 per month on electricity that’s a big deal.
The utilities will bring solutions to the market, but there are proven energy monitoring options on the market today. For as little as $100 families could gain access to this real time information and take control of this important issue.
We have been in the business of real time electricity information since 2003 and it’s gratifying to see this momentum. Visit us at www.bluelineinnovations.com for more information.
Mitch Mitchell - 02/27/2010 - 13:03
Follow the money
The utility industry will chase revenue rates up as increased energy control and efficiencies are gained. Don't assume you have access to my property for the same amount of money - stay away!
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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