Grid standards gaining national prominence. Atlanta was the site of a coming out party for Smart Grid standards in mid-November. The GridWise Architecture Council (GWAC) joined with the DOE and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to host a three-day event focused on nationwide grid interoperability. More than 200 technical experts gathered to explore interoperability gaps and best practices. The 2007 Energy Independence and Energy Security Act (EISA) gave NIST primary responsibility for coordinating a Smart Grid interoperability framework for Smart Grid devices.  NIST will publish its initial progress report in December, 2008.

   QuickTake: NIST will eventually make recommendations for adoption by the Federal Electric Regulatory Commission (FERC). That raises hope that we’ll have national standards sooner, rather than later, instead of the current patchwork of volunteer efforts. But challenges remain, warns frequent SGN contributor Erich Gunther, Chairman and CTO of EnerNex. “We still have a problem getting stakeholders to look at what has already been done instead of reinventing it.”

   Warning to utilities: If you are not getting involved now in setting these standards, don’t complain later that you don’t like how they turned out. Warning to vendors: If you are not getting involved now in setting these standards, don’t complain later that they give your competitors an unfair advantage.

   GWAC and NIST Working Groups

   GWAC home page

   EnerNex home page

China pumps $170B into grid construction. China’s State Grid Corporation is angling to double its previously announced investment into new grid construction, to $170B over the next two years. Part of the money will come from China’s recently announced economic stimulus package.

   QuickTake: This is the second time in 10 years that China has pumped billions into grid upgrades as a method to stimulate the economy. Compare that to the U.S. bailout that, so far at least, has been used to finance spa vacations for AIG executives and fat year-end bonuses for Wall Street. Yet another sign that China understands the strategic importance of a modernized grid.

   China Digital Times article on the Smart Grid’s role in the stimulus package

   The Smart Grid Cooperative organized by the Joint US-China Cooperation on Clean Energy (JUCCCE)

Carbon caps could break the grid, says NERC. A new report from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation says U.S. carbon reduction policies raise serious concerns over grid reliability. The logic goes like this: Carbon constraints will force coal-fired plants to shut down. Switching to gas will be dangerous in regions where storage and pipeline capacity is limited. Switching to wind will strain the grid because of wind’s intermittency. NERC’s solution: new high-voltage transmission to move renewable power from remote regions to urban centers.

   QuickTake: NERC CEO Rick Sergel is calling for planning at a national level in the place of today’s every-region-for-itself situation. If China can plan as a nation (see above), why not the U.S.?

   NERC press release

   NERC Special Report on Electric Industry Concerns on Reliability Impacts of Climate Change Initiatives (PDF)

Gore may help invent an interstate highway for electricity. Al Gore’s recent call for an underground interstate highway for electricity is gaining significant attention from the national press… and, we hear, from the Obama transition team. Forbes Magazine, to name just one example, has just produced a special issue called “Energy & Genius” that seems to take the Gore concept very seriously.

   QuickTake: On the surface, Saint Al’s blessing seems like a good thing. However, if it shifts the focus from the changes we need right now – smart meters, distribution automation, demand response – and onto a long-term science project like undergrounding all our transmission, it could ultimately slow things down.

   Gore New York Times editorial

   Forbes Special Issue

IBM investment revives BPL as a solution for rural areas. Just weeks after one pundit declared that broadband over powerline (BPL) was dead, IBM has signed a $9.6M contract with International Broadband Electric Communications (IBEC) to bring the service to rural electric cooperatives and their customers. Urban residents can get broadband access from cable or phone companies, but many country dwellers can get only satellite service or none at all. IBEC, based in Huntsville, AL, is the leading BPL provider to rural electric utilities.

   QuickTake: Other new technologies may actually be a better solution for low-density rural areas, including WiMax, 4G and the recently opened “white space” spectrum.

   MarketWatch coverage of the announcement

SmartSynch investment may signal battle in C&I space. Jackson, MI–based SmartSynch has acquired Applied Mesh Technologies (AppMesh) of Macon, GA, for an undisclosed amount. SmartSynch is best known for meter communications modules that use public wireless networks to send signals to the utility. AppMesh provides technology and services to commercial & industrial (C&I) customers to help them monitor and control energy use.

   QuickTake: SmartSynch has had the most success in the C&I space. With the acquisition of AppMesh, it can now go to those customers and offer them sophisticated sub-metering, load control, demand response, remote dispatch of backup generators, energy management, and more. This will put it in competition with high-end, expensive product lines such as Schneider/Square D’s PowerLogic and Elster’s Nexus, which may have to lower their prices to compete.

    SmartSynch press release

Google Smart Grid initiative begins to take form. Details of Google’s ambitious smart energy/smart grid program are beginning to take shape. In early November, the search giant joined the Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition (DRSG). A month earlier, it announced a partnership with GE’s smart metering arm. And when Newsweek interviewed Dan Reicher, director for climate change and energy for Google.org, the firm’s quasi-philanthropic arm, he talked about the combination of GE’s hardware and Google’s software. He also highlighted the need to hook plug-in hybrids to an intelligent grid that knows when to charge them and when to draw from their batteries.

   QuickTake: Let’s hope that the startups such as GridPoint, Grid Net, and Silver Spring are talking to Google about partnerships, or at least preparing what to say when the G word comes up. As we learned in Microsoft’s heyday, a giant company can freeze customers as they wait to see what it will come up with.

   Newsweek interview with Google.org’s Dan Reicher

   DRSG press release about Google and other new members (PDF)

   Google Blogoscoped entry about Google’s Smart Grid ambitions and prospects

Report sizes Smart Grid at $42B. The Smart Grid will add up to a $42B market worldwide in 2008 and will grow at 9.1% annually to reach $65B in 2013, according to a new report from Lux Research. The smart metering sub-sector stands at $2.7B today and will grow to $4.7B by 2013. The report cites uncertainty in financing rollout projects as an impediment. But even though VC investments and IPOs have been down in general, “smart grid technologies are still getting lots of attention.”

   QuickTake: Every market research firms uses different methods to calculate size and growth; and every firm lumps different sectors under the Smart Grid umbrella. Even so, this is further confirmation that the Smart Grid is big already, and growing rapidly.

   earth2tech post discussing this and related reports