Smart Grid Library

The electricity value chain of generation, transmission, distribution and consumption has a number of challenges, or pain points, to overcome to deliver all Smart Grid benefits.  Electric utility Smart Grid investment decisions are made on the basis of what reduces or eliminates pain.  There is no “one size fits all” answer in terms of innovations [...]

As the US Congressional representatives head home to their respective districts, some of which defy all logic in terms of that contortionist geography called gerrymandering, it’s a perfect opportunity to attend their town hall meetings to offer advice in support of Smart Grid initiatives.   Support a national energy policy that encourages development of clean and [...]

Technology is easy, change is hard.  It doesn’t matter if it’s individual or systemic change – it is more difficult to modify human attitudes and behaviors than invent disruptive, game-changing technologies or services.  Keep this in mind as we confront hard realities and harder decisions.  Nuclear meltdown in Japan, international military intervention in Libya, and [...]

The integration of renewable energy sources like wind and solar into the nation’s electricity supply is an important Smart Grid capability.   Solar and wind are intermittent energy sources that need energy storage to guarantee electricity when needed, but the sun will continue to shine, and the wind continue to blow, regardless of politics.  Increased electricity [...]

A school district in Silicon Valley is adding a 1.26 MW photovoltaic (PV) solar installation across several campuses to deliver about 45% of their annual electricity needs.  The ground-mounted facilities will be placed as canopies in school parking lots, so the shading provided by the panels can also reduce the air conditioning burden on the [...]

Albert Einstein said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”  We won’t get out of the energy mess we’re in with the same fuel sources and energy technologies that got us here.  The US government typically invests $3 billion into energy research per year, although [...]

California voters convincingly voted down the attempt by certain oil companies to abandon clean air legislation to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions first enacted back in 2006.  The vote breakdown shows that regardless of party affiliation, voters in all but 17 of the state’s 58 counties rejected this proposition summed up in a lopsided 61% to [...]

This past week was filled with Smart Grid-related conferences, starting with an Electric Vehicles Consumer Adoption Summit organized by IQPC in San Francisco and ending with the Silicon Valley Energy Summit co-sponsored by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and Precourt Energy Efficiency Center at Stanford University.  These two conferences highlighted the critical needs to build [...]

I planned to write about mobile versus fixed energy storage in a Smart Grid, but instead will postpone that topic in favor of regulatory matters.  The NARUC (National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners) summer meetings are a great place to get a deep appreciation of the role that Public Utility Commissions will play in expediting [...]