Something is missing from these descriptions, and it is time to recognize that the Smart Grid is an energy ecosystem.  Ecosystems are marvelously complex, inter-related environments.  Remove a food source from the food chain, and watch it change.  The same is true with our energy ecosystem – just substitute a form of energy, like coal, for food, and consider the impacts of its absence.  

We have to plan the reduction, if not outright extinction of the dirtiest fossil fuels, and replace them with renewables.  Since many renewables are intermittent energy sources and not steady-state, it means we also need to introduce layered (generation to distribution) energy storage into the grid to accommodate not only ancillary services but complete continuation of electrons even when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing. 

However, the challenges of introducing new technologies are even more numerous.  For some technologies that make the grid more robust and reliable – like synchrophasors, their deployment won’t cause disruptions – they improve and enhance existing operations.  Most importantly, they are invisible to the average consumer.  But there are other classes of technologies that are much more visible to consumers, like smart meters.

And here is where the challenges really surface for the evolution of the energy ecosystem.  Yes, developing technology is easy.  Deploying technology is hard, especially when it is visible to consumers.  Take the unfortunate example of Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E).  This utility is the subject of a lawsuit regarding its introduction of smart meters in the Central Valley of California.  Residential consumers in towns like Bakersfield are understandably alarmed at increases in their summer electricity bills, which reflect lots of days with air conditioning to cope with the blast furnace temperatures outside.  I would be too if I were in their shoes – what consumer likes increased bills?  And I should be in their shoes, since my small niche of the PG&E energy ecosystem was altered with a smart meter this past summer.   But I’m not in their shoes.  My bills did not increase.   PG&E did raise electricity rates this summer, but unless you pay close attention to every insert in your bill, these changes in the ecosystem could escape your notice.  However, introduce something new like a smart meter, and an increased electricity bill is the result of that most visible change. 

It’s a planning problem influenced by corporate culture, marketing and communication plans, and consumer awareness.  It is easy for those of us in the Smart Grid and energy sectors to forget that not everyone has the same level of awareness about Smart Grid technologies and benefits.  That’s one reason why I wrote the Smart Grid Dictionary, but this great resource alone won’t be enough to educate consumers about the powerful and compelling reasons to embrace smart meters and other technologies that will be coming to our homes in the next few years.  And face it, most utilities in the USA do not have to compete for consumer mindshare.  That’s one of the tradeoffs of being a regulated business, and the deficits of knowledge resulting from this environment can have expensive ramifications for introductions of visible technologies into the consumer base. 

In hindsight, PG&E should have conducted an advance information campaign to inform, demystify, and reassure consumers about what changes smart meters would bring to their energy ecosystem.  They might have chosen to rollout smart meters first along the cooler coastal areas and go the Central Valley in the wintertime, thereby avoiding a correlation of higher electricity bills as a result to smart meters instead of higher electricity rates.  As a consulting veteran of technology introductions, the best practices include extensive interdisciplinary planning and execution of the plan.  Properly managed evolutions in the energy ecosystem keep the call volumes down in the contact centers, avoid legal entanglements and bad publicity, and maintain harmony with the regulatory agencies.  

I asked this question because this n application will be ubiquitous in homes in the next few years.  The answers I received included an R&D shop’s solution (which might be proprietary), feedback about sensitivity of usage data, and a reference to the UtilityAMI Home Area Network System Requirements Specification.  

Let’s talk about the sensitivity of usage data – how much energy you use.  This is often cited as a security concern – if people can capture the data about the electricity you are consuming, they can tell if you are home or not.  I guess that’s true, but they would have to know an awful lot about my typical electricity use.  What if I’m a careless energy consumer that leaves computers, TVs, cell phone chargers, and lights on all the time – whether I’m home or not?  In this example, will there really be a significant difference in my KWh if I leave town for a week?  Maybe from a stratospheric bill to merely sky-high. 

In a world with more microgrids, the bad guys looking at my usage data would not know that a sudden decrease in my energy bills might be due to my brand new mini-wind turbine and solar panel installation. 

I do think people would be very touchy about the confidentiality of this information – I might not want my neighbors to know that I’m an electricity guzzler.  However, I don’t think extrapolating my usage data is a worthwhile criminal enterprise for people looking to make an illegal buck.     

More malicious activities would involve comprising the integrity of my usage data.  Although I can’t see what monetary gain a hacker would reap from modifying this data, they could certainly stress me out if my next utility bill was in the stratosphere.  Ditto if they messed with my microgrid data, depriving me of that cash that I was expecting from the utility based on their purchase of my microgrid’s generating capacity. 

So usage data may not be the most important data to secure in a HEMS application.  However, financial data and personal identification data like Social Security Numbers might be connected somewhere in a HEMS application to a utility, and therefore may be vulnerable to unauthorized access or compromised integrity.  That could be a problem.  We read stories all too often of the global criminal networks engaged in buying and selling credit cards and identification information.  This is a potentially huge liability for utilities, but they are working to address it through groups like the UtilityAMI OpenHAN Task Force.   

The UtilityAMI OpenHAN (Home Area Network) Task Force has defined 4 sections under the security category for guidelines that promote open, standards-based interoperable HANs.  Any HEMS application would be part of the HAN, and governed by the security guidelines under development by this group and other knowledgeable organizations.  The OpenHAN Task Force defines the following four subcategories: Access – the control and confidentiality of data and information; integrity – the ability to ensure protection of data (in storage and in transit) from unauthorized users; accountability – the date/time/user event info to audit a system; and, registration – the authentication of identities that are established within a HAN and known to a utility.   This is a great construct for utilities and vendors to ensure that all software is designed and deployed to ensure security as well as interoperability.

This Task Force takes a utility-centric view, which is perfectly reasonable considering that utilities have a great deal at stake in getting the right specifications defined for future Smart Grid operations.   The work that this Task Force has been doing is also shared with the ongoing work that NIST is taking in conjunction with EPRI to develop interoperability and security standards. 

I’ll lead a discussion about software characteristics – especially at the user interface in HEMS applications – for the Smart Grid at the Green Software Unconference on August 19^th in Mountain View, CA.   .   Join me there – click here to learn more about the agenda and how to register.

It’s a tough job – and the Commissioners are asking good questions such as “What should they do to encourage utilities to deploy Smart Grid solutions in absence of firm standards for interoperability and security?”  “What are the benefits that new technologies bring to consumers, and what are the costs to consumers?”  How do they prioritize all the many efforts that can be deployed in the Smart Grid arena to maximize beneficial impacts?  Here are three topics that are getting lots of time in their sessions. 

Smart meters – interoperability

Everyone is concerned about standards for interoperability for meters – ensuring that meters from different manufacturers deliver common data that can be managed by Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS).  Consider the implications of interoperability decisions.  The right decisions mean that consumers get more information and control of their energy consumption at the right price points.  The wrong decisions can mean increased consumer costs for energy and services that are not as information-rich as they could be.  No commission wants to structure regulatory policies that influence utility choices of technologies that are proprietary and unable to connect to the larger regional grid.  Commissioners are careful to want to avoid picking winners and losers in technology solutions, but understand that they need to help utilities make smart decisions that reflect not only the regional interests but national grid interests as well. 

Smart Grid – security

Critical infrastructure – ranging from transmission lines and distribution substations to the internal computer networks and software that manages customer information and billing – is the focus of many discussions about secure protection.  As the Smart Grid will use more networked applications for demand response and energy efficiency programs as well as more automation and optimization of transmission and distribution systems on a greater interconnected scale, it is vitally important that networks are secure and architected to provide layers of authorized access to private virtual networks.  There are a lot of potential threats to overall grid reliability and stability out there, and the public utility commissions and staff are well aware that their policies can have national security implications.

Smart energy devices – registration

The Smart Grid will have smart energy devices – specifically meters and energy storage devices, such as electric vehicles or home batteries.  Some Commission staff members are talking about numbering plans for these devices, because whether these are IP addresses or phone numbers, it entails literally millions of new addresses or numbers to be allocated for their use.  In addition to fixed devices like meters, electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) will also require addresses or phone numbers to support roaming charges – so no matter where your electric car is charging or discharging, the debit or credit is posted to your utility account. 

Fascinating stuff, and there are no easy answers out there.  What are the implications for you, dear readers?  You need to be aware of the decisions that your Public Utility Commissions are making since they can impact your energy bills, and give you a bigger role  and better tools in consuming energy in smart and sustainable ways.  The Commissioners and their staffs want your educated feedback to help them ensure that your regulated utilities are effective and active participants in building the Smart Grid and giving you the energy services you want and need.

So ok, what are we personally doing about going after that low hanging fruit?  What are we doing to intelligently use energy right now?  We can wait until grids and appliances are smart and everyone has a user-friendly home energy management system, but even optimists like me know that new technologies are not adopted overnight. 

There’s quite a lot that can be done about energy efficiency.  Anyone can buy a power strip or two and put their home office equipment into a total power down mode to reduce electricity demand during non-work hours, or purchase programmable thermostats to schedule sensible energy use – without sacrificing comfort.  Corporate offices present great opportunities to also practice smart energy behavior.  Do all the office lights need to be on all of the time?  Probably not.  Unless you work in a 24X7 environment, most office workers could turn off the lights in their cubicles before leaving the workplace, as well as fully power down their computers and unplug laptop power supplies from wall sockets. 

The list of possibilities for intelligent use of energy is almost endless.  So as we approach Independence Day in the USA, remember this – a brand new country began with people who stopped talking the revolution talk, and instead began walking the revolution walk.  If you want to reduce reliance on foreign oil, if you want to decrease CO2 emissions, or if you simply want to lower your energy bill, then start intelligently using energy.  Don’t wait for some dazzling new technology to do it for you.

Have a happy and energy-wise Fourth of July!