Smart Grid Library

Saturday, January 28 is International Data Privacy Day.  It’s a great opportunity to think about new data created as a result of the modernization of our electrical grid into the Smart Grid, and what this means for our privacy.  Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) is credited with the quote:  “Knowledge is power.”  Agreed.  Understanding what this [...]

The Smart Grid presents a number of challenges to policy-makers and utilities, but perhaps none is more vexing than the question of who will educate consumers about the rewards and risks of energy consumption data that can be derived from smart meters and increasingly from products that can disaggregate electricity “signatures” to determine usage of [...]

Smart meters can be positively transformative for consumers to control their use of electricity.  But there are concerns about them that are threatening to slow down deployments in some areas. That has ramifications to Smart Grid plans everywhere. The three categories of concerns about smart meters are:    meter accuracy – smart meters are have been [...]

It’s Valentine’s Day, and here are a few special wishes I’m sending:  A Thinking of You to my electric utility, and to all the hardworking employees there who work so diligently to ensure my ongoing reliable and safe delivery of electricity in spite of an aging infrastructure.  I do appreciate the great service you provide.  [...]

Consumer privacy concerns are an important focus of many Smart Grid conversations.  Everyone agrees that consumers need to be educated about the entirely new types of energy use data that can be created with Smart Grid technologies.  While we must ensure that consumers are aware of their rights and responsibilities regarding energy use data, there is [...]

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently published the latest draft of the Guidelines for Smart Grid Cyber Security, a collaborative public/private effort to assist individuals and organizations who will be addressing cyber security for Smart Grid systems.  The second volume focuses on Privacy and the Smart Grid with an emphasis on residential [...]

New technologies challenge our ability to manage them.  Do you recall that many users of social networks like MySpace and Facebook were chagrined to discover that their personal information has achieved immortality on the Internet?  In many cases, users failed to appreciate the ramifications of their decisions about sharing information.  The harm in some cases [...]