Building Consensus for a Smarter Grid

Building Consensus for a Smarter Grid

While new federal energy legislation works its tortured way through the halls of Congress this fall, we all patiently wait and hope that what emerges from those halls represents something that is truly in the “national” interest.  Unfortunately today’s political process often responds more quickly to special interest groups, specific company lobbyists, and local political concerns rather than taking the time to listen to a broader group of stakeholders that better reflects public good. 

In some cases, of course, special interest groups align well with national interests, but more often these special interests represent individuals and companies that are driven primarily by private financial interests and not by public good.  One only needs to observe the decades-long battle over air quality and emissions to see the polarized tensions.

In an ideal world, Congress might convene a broad group of technical policy experts along with a broad representation of stakeholders to analyze various options, bringing forward for consideration only the “best of the best” to clearly promoting a public agenda. Unfortunately, we are stuck with a less than perfect, but time-honored political process: strong leaders committed to the national interest side by side unpredictable hidden agendas.

In this context, the “Smart Grid” provisions in the current energy legislation, while not perfect, represent surprisingly strong Congressional leadership on issues that are still not well understood even by experts.  They also represent a very time consuming effort by many Congressional staff and industry representatives to develop clear and robust policies that signify both consensus and real public good.

The GridWise Alliance is clearly committed to focusing its federal legislative efforts on advocating for the best possible policies that clearly move the national interests forward by supporting a more secure, reliable, and affordable electricity infrastructure.  Our members have agreed to focus first and foremost on the public good, while placing it in the context of business realities.  Alliance Board members recently reaffirmed the importance of this focus and committed to firmly maintain this focus. The diversity of our membership (which includes both private and public utilities, large multinational vendors and emerging innovative technology companies) reinforces our ability to both understand and articulate policies that reflect clear national interest.  Through open dialogue among our members, we float a variety of ideas and perceptions, and push for consensus positions on the policies we advocate.

While the Alliance is largely pleased with the current Congressional language, we also understand that additional voices in the debate will certainly refine and deepen our collective understanding.  It is not too late to be part of the dialogue and debate.  If you would like your views to be heard, please consider joining the other 40 member companies of the Alliance and help us shape policies in the National Interest!

Steve Hauser is President of the GridWise Alliance and Vice President of Strategy for GridPoint.

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