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Smart Grid Makes The Super Bowl, But Is It Smart Stimulus?

February 2, 2009 RSS Feed Print

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One Super Bowl ad that might have confused viewers the most was GE's "smart grid" ad using the Wizard of Oz's scarecrow. The concept of a "smart" electricity grid has already been in the spotlight because it is part of President Obama's proposed stimulus package--specifically, he wants to spend $4.5 billion toward modernizing the electricity grid. Presumably, this would lead to the development of more energy-efficient power sources that are driven by state-of-the-art computing and wireless technologies.

At best, a "smart grid" investment could spur innovation by giving opportunities for high-tech entrepreneurs. Check out this article about some Bay-Area software companies hoping to cash in on the stimulus.

At worst, this could just be pouring money into a pet project of GE to bolster its attempt to get a "green" reputation.

Or it could just be a bust that doesn't really go anywhere. That's what Robert Samuelson pretty much writes in today's Washington Post:

For starters, $4.5 billion is a pittance. An industry study in 2004 -- surely outdated -- put the price tag of modernizing the grid at $165 billion. More important, says a report from J.P. Morgan, the "smart grid" isn't mainly a matter of building new transmission lines or installing new meters. It's more "communications and information processing technology" that allows for more efficient transportation and use of power.

"The smart grid, while a great idea, is basically a software project," says economist Marc Levinson of J.P. Morgan. "The reason utilities aren't pushing it faster is not lack of money or will, but because there are lots of technical issues and also important compatibility problems so that the various companies' grids can communicate freely with one another."

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Power outages are less problematic for a smart grid because it quickly can isolate the problemand create energy pathways around it. This makes a smart grid "self-healing" by reducing power outages and saving money. Buried power lines also would reduce outages caused by harsh winter storms, when tree branches are likely to down power lines. In my community, residents are concerned about proposed power lines that would stretch through the centers of many small downtowns and across lovely vistas. If these same lines were buried, there would be fewer objections from the community.
The smart grid could help consumers use that energy more wisely and save money, as well. A sensor in your home can tell you the price of electricity when the demand is highest. This allows you to set priorities so that you use more energy when the price is lower and less during peak demand. You also can find out which appliances are energy hogs and identify energy vampires that you may not have known about.
Austin, Texas, has been working on a smart grid since 2003, when its utility company first replaced a third of its manual meters with wireless smart meters. Austin currently manages 200,000 smart meters, smart thermostats and sensors across its service area and expects to be supporting 500,000 devices this year. Boulder, Colo., started a smart grid project in August 2008. The smart grid extends into homes through home automation network devices. These devices automatically set thermostats, reduce energy loads during peak times, and shut off lights in rooms when no one is in them.
By investing in our infrastructure, we also would stimulate economic growth and increase green jobs. Thousands of peoplewould be put to work across the country designing, building and installing smart grid technology. Having the grid in place wouldmake electric carsmore feasible and affordable. Renewable energy would become more viable, and demand would increase as more electric carswere added to the grid. It also would bring the price of homeand business-scaled renewable power systems down because the payback periods would decrease. Businesses may make tidy profits by selling excess power back to the grid.
Want to learn more about the smart grid? The U.S. Department of Energy has an easy-tounderstand publication you can download online called "The Smart Grid: An Introduction." The DOE is conducting a series of smart grid e-forums to discuss issues surrounding the smart grid, including costs, benefits, implementation and deployment.

HSR0601 of NY 7:48AM February 07, 2009

President Barack Obama recently asked Congress "to act without delay" to pass legislation to double alternative energy production in the next three years and build a new electricity "smart grid." This smart grid would be an updated digital version of the electric wires strung across our country in the past century. What makes it "smart" is that the lines would be buried and more efficient and would give homeowners feedback on how efficiently they were using the power inside their homes.
This new smart grid would cost about $400 billion over 10 years but would save between $46 billion and $117 billion over the next 20 years by reducing inefficiencies and power failures, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. It also would help to make us less dependent on imported energy and to reduce climate change. For example, if the smart grid were even 5 percent more efficient, it would keep as many carbon emissions from the atmosphere as eliminating 53 million cars.
A smart grid allows power from residential solar panels, small wind turbines, and plug-in electric vehicles to be fed into the grid. This would encourage the green energy industry by allowing small players, such as individual homes and small businesses, to sell power to their neighbors or back to the grid. It would provide another source of income for larger commercial businesses that have renewable or backup power systems that can provide clean energy for a price during peak demand, such as midday in July when the air conditioning is cranked.
Another brilliant feature of the proposed grid is the potential to use cars to store electricity and then feed it back into the grid during times of peak demand. "Vehicle to grid," or V2G, technology helps balance energy loads by "valley filling" (charging at night, when demand is low) and "peak shaving" (sending power back to the grid when demand is high). This would help utility companies keep voltage and regulation stabler. It would be especially useful when more of our power came from intermittent power sources, such as solar panels, which only produce power during the day.

HSR0601 of NY 7:42AM February 07, 2009

It is interesting to imagine what Messrs. Samuelson and Levinson would have said about the internet back in 1989. "An interesting way to send messages from one computer to another," is what I'm guessing.
The smart grid is, in fact, part of the next world wide web -- of electricity -- and like the internet, it will change everything: our culture, society and how we do business. More importantly, it will alter how we use, transform and exchange energy.
Enough solar energy falls on the surface of the earth every 40 minutes to meet 100 percent of the entire world's energy needs for a full year.
There is no energy supply problem, there is an energy distribution problem -- and the smart grid is the architecture to make more efficient distribution possible.
For more information, see http://www.terrawatts.com

Michael P. of CA 7:37PM February 02, 2009

Smart Grid Makes The Super Bowl, But Is It Smart Stimulus?

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