Federal bill steps closer to reality; big news for renewables and storage. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has completed a number of changes to a major energy bill, taking it one step closer to completion. Among the latest changes is a mandate that large utilities get 15% of their power from renewable energy sources by 2021; 4% of that can come from energy efficiency.  (This differs slightly from the House climate bill, which set a goal of 20% renewables by 2020, but allows states to adjust the recommended mix of 15% green energy and 5% efficiency.) A separate bill sponsored by Ron Wyden (D-OR) promises tax credits for energy storage. Reportedly, the bill offers a 20% tax credit for investing in energy storage technology, or a 30% tax credit for using energy storage in a home, business or factory.

   Quick Take: If the senate’s broad energy bill passes, it will put further strain on the transmission and create further demand for a Smart Grid. Wyden’s bill, on the other hand, would give storage a terrific boost in two ways: first, through incentives and second by creating more demand for storage to help firm up intermittent renewables.

   Public Power Daily report on energy bill markup

   GreenTech story on storage bill

Small utilities decry NERC's reliability paperwork.  In recent years, the North American Electric Reliability Corp (NERC) has attempted to create and submit to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) a new set of reliability standards for the bulk power system and develop a system for compliance monitoring and enforcement. But in their recent newsletter, the American Public Power Association (APPA) reports that its members are not satisfied with NERC programs, which they consider to be “too resource- and procedurally intensive to be sustained.”  In fact, the report states, the resources needed to complete all the paperwork is actually degrading reliability over the long run. Hit hardest are small and medium-sized utilities.  APPA has responded by providing comments and recommendations for NERC programs.

   Quick Take: The NERC reliability requirements are morphing into our industry's version of Sarbanes-Oxley. It’s a great idea in theory, but a bureaucratic and paperwork nightmare in practice.

   Public Power Daily report on NERC progress

   NERC home page

Duke, Cisco join forces for Smart Grid upgrades. Duke Energy has announced a partnership with communications giant Cisco Systems to assist with its wide-ranging Smart Grid plans.  Over the next few years, the energy company plans to invest $1 billion in grid upgrades in Indiana and Ohio, and is also planning to modernize systems in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Kentucky. Cisco will provide the communications service for those upgrades, as well as conduct tests on Duke’s existing systems and help develop and install tools for home energy management.

   Quick Take:  We’ve heard a lot of commentary from pundits panning Cisco’s entry in the Smart Grid field and predicting it would be years before they had any real products to offer.  In fact, the company is already deeply involved in a number of initiatives with big utility customers.  This announcement is one more indication of that fact.

   SGN story on Cisco’s Smart Grid ambitions

   Wall Street Journal on Duke-Cisco teaming

Another firm crowds into Smart Grid communications space.  More and more communications companies are discovering the Smart Grid and trying to stake a claim in that space. Last week, we reported on Space Data licensing its 930 MHz spectrum to Full Spectrum’s FullMAX Broadband Wireless System for Smart Grid Communications.  Now Motorola is trying to get the message out about its own solutions for utilities. In a white paper titled “AMI and Beyond: How Wireless Broadband Enables the Smart Grid Today and Tomorrow,” the electronics giant advocates utilities invest in private wireless communications systems for backhauling AMI data and highlights the company’s wireless broadband portfolio.

   Quick Take: Suddenly Smart Grid is the growth strategy of choice for any and everybody in the communications space. In the case of Space Data, it is a vendor of licensed spectrum. But Motorola’s white paper now foreshadows more news from the cellular space as well.

   Space Data teams with Full Spectrum in SGN News Roundup

   Motorola white paper on “AMI and Beyond” (PDF)

Why the Smart Grid Won’t Have the Innovations of the Internet Any Time Soon.  Earth2Tech writer Katie Fehrenbacher once believed that Smart Grid technology would flourish the way it does on the Internet, but now has doubts because Smart Grid data won’t be available to consumers in real time.  In a story entitled  “Why the Smart Grid Won’t Have the Innovations of the Internet Any Time Soon,” she explains that data from smart meters is typically collected in intervals of 15 minutes to an hour, and may only reach the utility back office for processing and sent out to consumers once a day. It’s not clear when utilities will be able to offer real-time data to customers or even if it’s worth the expense to do so. Developers of products like Google Power Meter believe users need current information to be engaged and change their behavior.  In addition, she theorizes that only real-time data will encourage technical innovation in this area.

   Quick Take: Katie Fehrenbacher is one of the Valley's insiders. She actually had it right the first time. We're not quite sure who convinced her that the Smart Grid needs to have real-time information right away. In fact, what it needs is the ability for any device to connect to any other. Watch SmartGridNews for a story next week that will profile a company that is already doing many of the great things that Fehrenbacher claims are impossible.

   Earth2Tech article on real-time Smart Grid data

South Korea commits to nationwide Smart Grid. Setting the year 2030 as goal, South Korea plans on becoming the first Smart Grid country in the world. According to an announcement from a committee of government officials and industry executives, representatives, and researchers, the country hopes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 41 million tons and reduce fossil-fuel imports by USD $10 billion.  Planners expect the system to reduce power consumption by 3% in the next 21 years as well as create 500,000 new jobs annually.

   Quick Take: South Korea's cell phone and broadband networks are light years ahead of the U.S. Will it pass America in the Smart Grid as well?

   TMCnews story

   Korea Times report

Amsterdam wants to be Europe’s first smart city.  The city of Amsterdam is contracting with Accenture to help provide technologies to modernize the city’s infrastructure. The goal is to have a smart electric distribution system, more support for electric vehicles, develop smart buildings, and in general reduce energy consumption. Accenture is expected to assist with integrating smart meters, managing their data, and participating in other carbon-reducing projects.  Together the city, energy companies, and private firms are expected to invest over $1 billion in the next three years.

   Environmental Leader report

   Earth2Tech story

   Business Week story

New cash infusion for Tendril. Tendril, producer of hardware and software for demand response, load control, energy monitoring, and energy management, has received $30 million in Series C funding. The investment comes from  VantagePoint Venture Partners as well as Good Energies, RRE Ventures, and Vista Ventures. The company plans to use the money to meedt demand for its Tendril Residential Energy Ecosystem (TREE) platform.

   Quick Take:  Tendril is hoping to be the Microsoft Windows of the Smart Grid, providing a platform others will build on. Click the link below to see our analysis of the company from earlier this year.

   SGN analysis of Tendril

   Tendril press release