About
The Smart Grid revolution has begun. If it was silent, or at least quiet, for a while, things changed drastically in late 2008 and early 2009, at which point “Smart Grid” came close to becoming a household word. It was not only heard regularly from the lips of newly elected President Obama, but it was even celebrated in a (not inexpensive) Super Bowl ad. And while we might question the importance or longevity of certain revolutions, this one is here to stay.
The electric grid has been called the greatest engineering achievement of the twentieth century. Yet, despite its importance, it has been allowed to languish. A commonly voiced sentiment is how, if they came back to life, Alexander Graham Bell would be astonished by what has become of telecommunications, while Thomas Edison would have no trouble understanding, or even running, the electric grid as it exists today.
And why do we care? Why is this so called revolution necessary, and even inevitable? Here are a handful of reasons:
- Due both to population growth and the increased electrification of our day to day lives (i.e., our dependence on electricity for so much of what we do), the power grid is strained, and is becoming less and less able to keep up with demand.
- The current grid is indeed a dumb network; it cannot be monitored proactively to ensure that it is working properly, to keep it from failing, or even to alert utilities when it has failed. The results are extended outages that cost the US economy billions of dollars (not to mention, wreak havoc on people’s lives).
- An essential ingredient to fighting climate change (and to help diminish our dependence on foreign energy sources) is to reduce our overall use of energy. A smarter grid provides tools that enable us to become much more energy efficient in a way that is not nearly as painful as some might think.
- Climate change also requires a transition to cleaner sources of energy. But without a more intelligent grid, we cannot transmit the solar, wind, hydro, or geothermal power produced to the people and companies that need it.
- Given our day to day, and our economy’s, dependence on electricity, a dumb grid provides an attractive target to those who would like to undermine our security.
SmartGrid Current is an attempt to assemble the key news stories, policy developments, reports, and other materials, that speak to, or educate about, the development of the Smart Grid. Thank you for taking the time to visit. I hope that you find it useful.
Joaquin Gamboa
I am always interested in your insights and recommendations; please send them to joaquingamboa(at)smartgridcurrent(dot)com.
