SmartGrid industry leader Jesse Berst and I spent time discussing power companies understanding of the SmartGrid beyond the concept’s advantages. What it really meant to design, implement and deploy a SmartGrid network and agreed there was a gap in knowledge and understanding. To their credit, power companies already manage large networks that require significant uptime, load-balancing, switching and sourcing – terms we in the networking and Internet industry are very familiar with, but ourselves could not immediately manage if the situation was reversed.
Power company management should embrace the likeness between a power network and an IP network, realizing that with the proper training their existing staff can readily maintain and operate a SmartGrid network. The design and implementation is be left best to experienced IP network engineering firms such as ourselves, especially with wireless SmartGrid systems which adds a specialized level of complexity.
The advantages of a SmartGrid network seem never ending, the positive effect goes from the consumer to the source and all areas in-between. As renewable energy becomes more prevalent, and widespread, the need to have real-time multi-source metrics and least-cost routing on the generation side become a necessity.
Conversely, as the home becomes intelligent and office buildings implement power-saving and monitoring systems, the ability to interface with the utility in real-time is highly advantageous for both the consumer and utility. The utility is better able to manage power consumption and the buy/sell schedule (and losses associated with surplus power) by empowering consumers with the ability to customize their power use and take advantage of real-time offers for cost savings.
Here are some stats:
- Department of Energy reports the U.S. economy suffers between $79B and $135B in annual losses due to power outages (momentary and sustained).
- PNNL says by 2010 the SmartGrid can eliminate $80B in cost by managing peak demand.
- Northwest National Labs says a 10% reduction in power use translates into $70B in savings by not building new power plants.
- Senator Cantwell (WA) says 40% more energy will be needed by 2030.
And possibly most important is the control a powerco has over network overload. The SmartGrid can help prevent or quickly address brownout and blackout conditions. An extreme but realistic example would be the demand put on the Los Angeles metropolitan electrical grid at 6PM when everyone gets home and plugs in their electric cars – we already struggle with air conditioners on hot days. The SmartGrid will become vitally important to avoiding and addressing potential power catastrophes in the future.
And on a sidenote, many SmartGrid systems offer the ability to monitor other utility services such as water and gas. Over 30% of municipal water supply is lost to leaks in the system, which is critically important as freshwater becomes more scarce. We believe the SmartGrid goes well beyond just power and is just as important as we work to conserve vital natural resources.