Anshika Kumar

Envir 450 B

October 26, 2009

Smart Grid: David Kaplan and Steve Klein; Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Context, key concepts:

Smart Grid is:

• Rewarding (business/econ development opportunity)
• Achievable (core tech already exists; software/hardware yet to be written)
• Required (essential to clean energy future; obligation to future generations)

Energy System Context:

• How much energy is delivered through the grid, and not through the grid? Renewables through the grid (hyrdo) are dwarfed by the amount of petroleum and natural gas (transportation, space heating) delivered external to the grid.
• No silver bullets from single energy source (like hydro—already reached capacity, will possibly decrease as snow pack decreases with climate change).
• We must do everything we can so SAVE. Reduce energy consumption in order to bring them back to 1990 levels by 2050.
• We must take advantage of natural gas—smaller carbon footprint than carbon or coal, useful in transition stage to take pressure off of clean energy demand.
• Wind improving in cost-effectiveness, but unreliable. Solar is more predictable.
• Increase in biofuels (not corn ethanol), but these are severely constrained in land and water resources.
• Electrify those parts of the grid that are amenable to it: vehicles.
• We need to clean the grid; move away from carbon-based, combustible fuels.

Substations in the 10-15 kW range.

1 MW load = power to 1,000 houses.

Smart grid components:

• Energy efficiency (making sure it’s cost-effective for the investment, retaining maximum benefit)
• Communications (some sort of telemetry between load center and customer demand; distribution asset management)
• Smart metering
• Demand management
• Grid intelligent (smarter substations, etc)
• All sources (coal, natural gas, nuclear, hydro, etc) are integrated into the grid
• Clean power (large-scale implementation of clean energy sources, even if unreliable)
• Electric vehicles (two roles: late arrival into the grid, therefore coming in information age, already information-able. Second: reducing carbon footprint by getting people away from petroleum)
• Implementation of storage (shock absorbers; no need to employ inefficient coal plants when wind dies down, for example)

Utility perspective:

Visionary, but practical.

We need to take the least risk, lowest cost path.

Smart grid myths:

• Demand response will not make that big of a difference on the West Coast. Not that much variation between light/heavy load. Strong advantages on the East Coast.
• Security benefits: as we open it to connect with internet etc, it will actually be more vulnerable to hacking.
• Increase in knowledge/monitoring: many people will complain about lack of privacy.

Smart grid confusion:

• Installing a smart meter is not the first step to a Smart Grid. No one element is a defining element; there are many important components working together.
• GIS and OMS are not Smart Grid components, but applications which enable it.

Drivers for Smart Grid:

• Legislative and regulatory mandates and requirements (this is why it will take at least a decade to implement)
• Customer demands for more data, choices, and flexibility
• Developer demands for integrating their distributed generation
• Electrification of transportation
• Utility’s own solid business case for modernizing the electric system, more efficient, reliable and safe operations, meeting customer needs, integration of distributed generation

Yet unimagined applications on utility and customer sides—great potential for the future.

Who will be in charge of standards? NIST? National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Telecommunication standards?