Smart Grid Library

My blog dated April 19 focused on PG&E activities that seemed to be designed to kill the spirit and the objectives of the Smart Grid.  Since then, PG&E has admitted that mistakes were made in some meter installs (although my PG&E smart meter functions perfectly, thank you very much), the tariff change is wending its way [...]

The news coming from PG&E these days is trending from bad to worse for the Smart Grid and for this country’s citizens. 
First they created a public relations disaster with their smart meter rollout, which now has its own term called “the Bakersfield effect”.  PG&E investment in a sensible communications plan and budget could have prevented [...]

The State of California mandated that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) work with the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) and California Energy Commission (CEC) to create requirements for a Smart Grid deployment plan by July of this year. These three entities held workshops this past week to gather information and offer researchers, consumers, product [...]

The message in Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign, “It’s the economy, stupid” is a great example of a focused communications strategy.  Utilities and vendors of energy solutions and services that require figurative and literal buy-in of ratepayers and consumers need to create focused and layered communications strategies with them in mind.  Your success depends on [...]

There are more signs that the brouhaha over PG&E’s smart meter rollout may do damage to other utilities’ plans for similar deployments.  News reports indicate that utilities and regulatory agencies in other states are closely watching the legal tangle devolve in California.  Consumer advocacy groups in California are concerned that smart meters are expensive, inaccurate [...]

My PG&E bill arrived, and to the disappointment of the litigants and legal team assembled against PG&E, Landis+Gyr and Silver Spring Networks, it was not a shocker.   No, just like all my bills since my smart meter was installed in June 2009, the bill is accurate.   My electricity use is actually down from last year, [...]

Technology can’t get more visible and disruptive than Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS). HEMS solutions are one of the most critical components of the Smart Grid – truly game-changing solutions that change the relationship residential consumers have with electricity and with utilities.
HEMS solutions are software solutions that offer direct consumer management of electricity in ways [...]

The electrical grid in the USA is sometimes called the greatest machine ever built.  Its evolution into a Smart Grid is often described as an energy Internet or Internet of things that will improve overall grid operations, reduce inefficiencies, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve reliability. 
Something is missing from these descriptions, and it is time [...]