SmartGrid Q and A

We had a question/answer segment in the Renewable Energies seminar I recently spoke at. After having been asked for the information enough times, I am posting it as closely to what was actually said. This portion of the presentation will be posted on video form next week.

Q: What is Smart Grid?
A: SmartGrid is a term used to incorporate a number of technologies, not just one technology
It could include technology to make certain home appliances operate at times of the day when more desirable energy sources are producing.
· The term also represents digital upgrades of technologies for transmission and distribution and the new utilization of newer alternative energy sources. An incorporating of new technologies if you will.

Q: What is different about it than what we have in place right now?
A: Our grids today are not an incredible amount different than they were 120 years ago.
· Use of improved distance two-way communications,sensors, and computing technology will improve the efficiency, reliability and safety of power delivery and use. Smart Meters for instance, can communicate power usage in real time allowing for better coordinated usage and source creation. Austin started it’s smart Grid construction in 2003 when it replaced 1/3 of it’s meters with Smart Meters and now has about 500,000 in service today.
· Smart grids can also coordinate the production of power from large numbers of small power producers such as owners of rooftop solar panels — an arrangement that would otherwise prove problematic for power systems operators at local utilities.
· The US Dept of Energy said a modern Smart Grid must:
Be able to heal itself
Motivate consumers to actively participate in operations of the grid
Resist attack
Provide higher quality power that will save money wasted from outages
Accommodate all generation and storage options
Enable electricity markets to flourish
Run more efficiently

Q. What kind of effect would Smart Grid have on us?
A. One United States Department of Energy study calculated that internal modernization of US grids with smart grid capabilities would save between 46 and 117 billion dollars over the next 20 years
· If we make the US grid 5% more efficient, same impact on C02 emissions as taking 53 million cars off the road:

Q. What kind of support is it getting from the government?
A. President, Barack Obama asked the United States Congress "to act without delay" to pass legislation that included doubling alternative energy production in the next three years and building a new electricity "smart grid".

Q. Do you support it?
A. Absolutely

Q. How could this save the consumer money?
A. With a standard grid if someone generates their own power and it feeds back into the grid it can create issues involving safety and inconsistency because it is designed to flow one way. Smart Grid allows for Decentralized Power Generation: as it allows individual consumers to generate their own power in whatever quantities they so desire gaining a type of independence from many grid-related problems and reaping the financial benefit of self-generated power.
· There are a number of power companies in many countries, especially in Europe that have installed double tariff electricity meters in homes to help people use power in the nights and weekends for off-peek power which can be much less expensive than peek hour electricity. This way consumers can save money using appliances such as water heaters, washing machines…

Portions of the data presented was in reference to data provided by GE and Wikipedia