Smart Grid Library

Energy efficiency is “the first fuel to set priorities about design, deployment, and use of any devices or materials that consume electricity or contribute to its consumption.” (Definition from the Smart Grid Dictionary, 2nd Edition). It is also called “low-hanging fruit” to describe that it is the easiest and cheapest way to avoid the purchase [...]

There is welcome evidence that the intellectual and financial resources in Silicon Valley are starting to seriously engage in Smart Grid activities. 
Take a look at where Smart Grid investment funds are based.  Of course, the Federal government’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus fund kickstart of $3.4B beat all other sources of money.  But [...]

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 [...]

I like ice hockey, but I rarely watch a televised game.  There’s too much living going on to spend it plunked in front of a TV.   That said, I did watch the two Olympics games between the US and Canadian men’s hockey teams because I figured they would be well-played games that would be an [...]

Microgrids are natural innovation zones for the Smart Grid because they have experimentation scalability and flexibility.  Smart utilities could create partnerships with academic and business campuses in their territories to deploy microgrids and study the most effective solutions for management of distributed generation.  Why distributed generation?  Because smart utilities should leverage the abilities of microgrids [...]

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 [...]