TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

Is the Smart Grid a Dumb Idea?

Dave Greenfield | Date: 10-20-09 | Comments

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• Few would argue with the belief that we need to revitalize our nation's power infrastructure, but numerous challenges complicate the deployment of smart grids.
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  Table of Contents:

  Is the Smart Grid a Dumb Idea? How We Got Here The Smart Grid Solution Funding Projects Pricing Problems Security and Privacy

• Is the Smart Grid a Dumb Idea? - Pricing Problems

  Pricing Problems

  The scope of demand response is unclear. “It’s a big question as to whether participation should be universally mandatory for residential customers,” says consultant Silverstein.

  At first, widespread adoption of real-time pricing and a demand-response program may sound appealing. After all, the greater the adoption, the greater the potential savings for society. But one can quickly see potentially nightmarish scenarios.

  Peak pricing will occur under peak demand. For example, it’s very hot and everybody has cranked up the air conditioning. Consumers with no choice but to use the electrical equipment will find their bills soar. What could day-care centers do if prices quadrupled in the summer? And what about the elderly, who need to keep their thermostat set high to stay sufficiently warm in the winter?

  There are also the implications for business. Will organizations that run expensive equipment schedule them for off-peak usage? At first glance, that might sound like a good idea, but what happens when you’re talking about essential services, such as those provided in a hospital? Will we see health care costs increase during peak times because of increased power costs?

  Data center managers also have to wonder how their electricity costs will be impacted. With the bulk of their electric consumption coming from the running of computing equipment, there’s little they can do at this point to cut their electricity costs. Utilizing data centers in areas with low-cost energy will continue to be important.

  Silverstein argues that the issues may not be as dramatic as that: “A lot of people, equipment and businesses can manage their electricity use by using a scalpel rather than a hatchet.” She points out that you don’t have to turn off the air conditioning for three hours on a hot day, but you could pre-cool the room in the morning and then cycle air conditioning on and off every 20 minutes in the afternoon.

  For example, a hospital’s energy management system could be tuned so that when there’s a big energy drain on one system, another one would cycle off for the 30 seconds or five minutes of the duration of that usage.

  Alternative Energy

  The success of alternative power and grid operations hinges on energy storage, noted Secretary Chu in his keynote. At the same time, the batteries needed for the kinds of storage he envisions are years away.

  The most widely touted idea—using hybrid or electric cars to store energy and then sell it back into the network—isn’t simple. “I spoke with GM [executives], who told me they would have to void a car’s warranty if it were being used to sell power back into the grid,” says WINMEC’s Gadh.

  What’s more, talk about the use of renewable energies, such as wind, may be politically correct, but the reality is that most of the U.S. population does not live in areas where wind—or another source of renewable energy—is feasible. New transmission lines are needed to bring power from states where wind power is plentiful to other regions. Yet there’s little incentive for those states to build out those lines.

  Nor are things necessarily looking better. Last month, the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that states should retain rights over whether or not to build power over electric transmission line projects, such as the Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH).

  The case concerned Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) regarding rules set by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the implementation of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

  “The decision directly upholds a state’s right to reject a transmission line project without fear of the federal government stepping in to overrule that state’s determination,” Christopher Miller, president of PEC, stated in a press release. “In plain language, the utilities do not get a second chance if the state rejects a line based upon the merits.”

  Next: Security and Privacy >>