All There is To Know About the Smart Grid and Renewables

In this article, we highlight a four-part audio podcast series about what smart grid theories, technologies and applications mean for renewable energy.

Stephen Lacey, Podcast Editor and Staff Writer
April 30, 2009 | 15 Comments

If demand on today's electrical grid looks like a rough landscape of high peaks and low valleys, demand on tomorrow's "smart grid" will look more like a series of rolling hills.

The electricity systems of developed countries are astoundingly capable of delivering massive amounts of electrons in a reliable way. But these complex ecosystems were designed to encourage consumption and to meet peak demand, making them bloated and inefficient.

Because grid systems were historically built around the mantra of “more,” there is a lot of excess capacity that sits unused until consumers push demand way up at certain times of the day or year.

Without the ability for utilities to actively communicate with customers during times of peak usage, it becomes difficult to manage demand and understand what's actually happening on the grid. Most of the time, the only option is to bring as much expensive reserve capacity online as possible and generate more power.

The smart grid can change that. The next-generation grid will be based on dealing with electrons on the informational level, not just on the atomic level.

With a better communications infrastructure, grid-operators, utilities and consumers could better manage demand in real time, thus smoothing out the peaks, reducing the strain on the system and creating a platform for distributed renewables to thrive.

But what will that communications infrastructure look like? What is the role of renewable energy? And how will we manage the myriad security and ethical issues that come such a radical increase in “energy data?”

Throughout the month of April on our Inside Renewable Energy podcast, we addressed those questions and took a detailed look at what the smart grid means for power producers and consumers along the electricity transmission, distribution and delivery system.

This month's four-part series offers two hours of in-depth interviews and commentary from the most cutting-edge, influential players in the smart grid space. If you've never had a chance to listen to the podcast, this is the perfect opportunity to tune in and get access to the most comprehensive audio news program on renewable energy.

The smart grid is getting a lot of attention from policymakers, businesses and reporters. But its overall role in the energy picture is often misunderstood. Listen to this series to get a realistic view of what the intelligent grid can offer society.

Part 1, “The Smart Grid Explained,” examines what what kind of objectives an intelligent electricity infrastructure should achieve. It's not just about technology — it's about finding the right applications for those technologies to flatten demand and make the system cleaner, more efficient and reliable.

Part 2, “How Will We Manage Demand on the Smart Grid?” digs deeper into how advanced meters will make the utility-customer relationship more dynamic while empowering consumers to make informed decisions about the use of electricity.

Part 3, “Storing Renewable Energy on the Smart Grid,” outlines a couple of mechanical and tertiary storage techniques that could enable renewables to play a much larger role in the energy mix.

Part 4, “Supply-Side Management and Security on the Smart Grid,” examines how utilities and grid operators may need to change business practices in order to accommodate storage technologies and higher penetrations of renewable energy. With the right technologies, business models and incentives, these players can become more comfortable with more renewables on the grid.

Most grids have operated the same way for nearly a century. Transforming these grids from centralized, analog-based machines into nimble, decentralized digital systems will have a wide-reaching impact on society and industry. The Inside Renewable Energy podcast offers a realistic vision of how and when that transformation will take place.

Everything you've ever wanted to know about the smart grid can be found on the Inside Renewable Energy podcast. Tune in to find out why over 60,000 people listen to the show each month.

The program is easy to listen to — you don't need any MP3 player or special software. Simply follow the link to each program and play the file on your computer from our website.

15 Comments

Marvin Hamon, P.E.
June 3, 2009

For the residential customer the Smart Grid will provide the ability monitor their energy usage and cost in real time. It will also allow the introduction of real time pricing for energy so that at peak demand prices will rise which will encourage people to reduce their load.

I don't think the residential customer will be receptive to having their loads controlled remotely to lower peak demand though. Few people would be willing to have their HVAC settings changed or to have the system turned off on a hot day by their utility. But most would be willing to change the temperature setting if they could see an immediate change in how much they are spending for energy. I could even see a market for thermostats that communicate with the customer's smart meter and adjust the temperature based on the energy price and the customer's desired budget. Real time access to energy usage data, real time pricing, and distributed generation is probably going to be the most effective way to reduce peak demand from residential customers.

Mary Saunders
May 31, 2009

When CBS was Capitol Broadcasting, Arthur Godfrey threw a tizzy fit on the radio when his power went out. Godfrey said he was getting a generator from a company whose ad he had seen in a magazine. Almost overnight, the generator company became a sponsor, and Godfrey got cachet as a salesman. These days, people already roll around in generators. One guy wrote on the net about powering certain circuits with his Prius during a prolonged interruption. His posting on the net netted him some fame. This was in the East, not in the West where one might expect such improv. While some small generators in homogenous places are leading the way, it seems likely DE and RE will trickle up or sideways into large culturally chaotic places at some point. While cheap motivates many, fad and fashion don't always lose. Count me in as one of those who get irritated at government-subsidized and protected monopolies. Even so, demand and supply can become elastic enough that monopoly can't be protected. I understand that engineers often don't want to do things that don't pencil now with precision. Nonetheless, the ratio of engineers to doctors and lawyers in this country is different from Germany, say. This makes a difference in what gets installed by whom. I know of a radiologist who put solar panels all over his house 20-some years ago. People told him he was crazy, but he now considers it one of the best decisions he every made. Deciding to be a radiologist wasn't a cheap decision. Both decisions had risk/benefit outcomes that could not be predicted exactly at the time he made them. He went with what he wanted and has no regrets. When his kids leave, he'll likely feed more in. Bully for him, and less lung disease for our so-called health system. For those who worry that smart-grid means big brother, try dropping your usage now and see who shows up to test your meter. Is it random, I said? Oh yes, said the man.

Barbara Durkin
May 8, 2009

Future value is being mischaracterized as Present Value, with payment due now from taxpayers and ratepayers.

I plan to go fishing tomorrow and I will catch four tuna, by my implementation of the business model of Enron.

June 8, 2005 by the Providence Journal (Rhode Island)

Hypothetical Future-Value Accounting -- The Tragicomedy that was Enron

http://www.desmogblog.com/enron-type-accounting-used-to-calculate-carbon-offsets

LA Times 11/02

General Electric Co. is seeking the refund of almost half the $358 million it paid to an Enron Corp. unit for wind-turbine manufacturing assets, lawyers told a federal bankruptcy judge in New York on Thursday.

"It's standard procedure," said Dennis Murphy, a spokesman for GE Power Systems, who confirmed the company's refund request.

"Purchasers have certain protections built in. If the purchase price didn't accurately reflect the value of the asset, we can petition," he said."

http://articles.latimes.com/2002/nov/15/business/fi-wind15

william hughes
May 7, 2009

Hi Stephen. You mention people who make comments without any knowledge of how power networks operate and point well taken. Don't forget engineers who understand how power distribution works and don't understand how people operate. No appreciation of the psychology of the situation. Here is one sentence is the people part. "If it is cheaper, people will use it" How does this relate to power distribution (rhetorical question). As was indicated throughout, with pulsating renewable energy, one can use demand balancing rather than the almost exclusively supply balancing as is done today. People will take care of it for you if cheaper power is provided when power is in excess. This will even make existing Hydro power more economically profitable. Then, if the customers aren't managing to balance the load, you can always fall back on supply balancing and let the water flow over the spillway.
William
http://mtkass.blogspot.com/2007/10/excess-power-what-to-do.html
wlhgmk@gmail.com

E.Patrick Mosman
May 7, 2009

The smart grid is heralded as the ultimate answer to the energy of the future;
"to flatten demand and make the system cleaner, more efficient and reliable."
"advanced meters will make the utility-customer relationship more dynamic while empowering consumers to make informed decisions about the use of electricity."
"decentralized digital systems will have a wide-reaching impact on society and industry."
If you parse these so called advantages it means that someone, a government bureaucrat, a low level energy company employee or most likely a nameless, faceless computer will be monitoring your energy usage and actually controlling how much and when you are allowed to use your electric powered appliances or to power up your electric car. You, the user will be at the mercy of the producers with guidelines issued by a dictatorial Washington, DC Energy Czar. The governor of California actually proposed such a control system last year.
The 'smart grid' is propagandized to make the masses think that they will be in control but in reality they will be the 'controlled' just as in "Animal Farm" the animals were controlled by the pigs.

E.Patrick Mosman
May 7, 2009

The following is taken from my letter to T.Boone Pickens on The 'Picken's Plan" for America's energy future:
"Both Newton and Einstein used 'thought' ideas to set up and think through problems and develop scientific solutions and there doesn't see to have been much thought given to to possible problems and unintended consequences of an all electric world when hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, droughts, hail, snow/ice storms or enemy actions,EMP, wreck havoc on the power transmission systems.
The future might be predicted by the original movie, "The Day the Earth Stood Still."..
"Evidently Mr. Pickens has never lived through an extended blackout, that is what four billion dollars can do for you, when there was no electric power. At least today gasoline and diesel powered emergency vehicles, fire, police, power company trucks from all over the US, ambulances and peoples' own vehicles were operational. How will the power companies,governments and individuals cope when such necessary vehicles are dependent on electric power and transmission lines are brought down by ice storms, tornadoes, hurricanes or other weather occurrence or an extended blackout occurs from overloads? Was there a back-up in Mr. Picken's or Mr. Gore's proposals to account for natural disasters or enemy action?"
Obviously the author has given little or no thought to the disasterous downside of placing the energy future of the USA in one energy basket, an all electric world.
Here are several warnings that all electric advocates need to consider:

Spies Penetrate U.S. Power Grid
ABC News April 8, 2009
http://abcnews.go.com/search?searchtext=electric%20grid%20under%20attack&type=

Staged cyber attack reveals vulnerability in power grid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJyWngDco3g

The EMP Threat
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121824192073426161.html?mod=djemEditorialPage

Thomas Schmidt
May 7, 2009

In my opinion, if we really wanted to be smart about it, we would simply turn it all off.
Looking for and findimg problems to solve sounds to me like just another capitalistic venture. Another way of "sticking it" to the people.
Where is all of the money going to come from to pay for this "smart" grid?
The power producers? The U.S. government? No.
Oh, it may appear that its coming from them but they will just be "passing the buck" as usual, nothing will have really changed.

If you really want a change for the better of humanity, Turn it all off!
We all lived on the planet Earth for thousands of years without this electricity. We could have lived in Earth longer. We have only been utilizing this electricity in mass for the past 100 years and look at where we today.

But go ahead with all of your "problem fixing." Its what you do and if a small hand full of you just happen to become filth stinking rich from it all, well hey, all the better, right? Just remember that your pulling people, not inanimate objects, down into the abyss of your madness. A madness over electricity. A madness over, energy.

Pity about Earth.

Martin Nicholson (Author - ENERGY IN A CHANGING CLIMATE)
May 6, 2009

I must say I have read more sense from this group of reader comments than I have heard on some of the podcasts so far. The press and hence the public get bombarded with "glossy brochures" from RE vendors who, as Mike Parr points out, generally seem to have little understanding of how power networks function (and probably don't care).

I suspect that Stephen's hope that the those peaks and low valleys we see on load curves will become rolling hills may turn out to be not so rolling. One of the advantages of centralised grids is the aggregation of demand across millions of user. Distributed grids may find their peaks and valleys are like stalactites and stalagmites but still have the same need for voltage and frequency control.

Barbara Durkin's point is spot on. We are rushing into installing RE and hoping the network will somehow cope. We may need a few network crashes before the realilty sinks in.

Martin Nicholson - author of "Energy in a Changing Climate"

Barbara Durkin
May 6, 2009

Reading the exchanges between Mike Parr and Stephen Lacey and Panthael prompts me to suggest a title change: 'All there is to know about podcasts'

Minerals Management Service projects that Cape Wind energy would cost twice as much as much as current energy without public subsidies. Suffolk University BHI notes public subsidies equal 77% of construction cost. No O&M cost is addressed, or bonding.

Cambridge Energy Research Assoc. warns that we need to invest in offshore wind installation vessels first.

DOE wind energy & transmission:

http://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/ems/reports/lbnl-1471e.pdf

7. Conclusions

"Recent growth in wind power development in the United States has been coupled with a growing concern that this development will require substantial additions to the nations transmission infrastructure. It is clear that institutional issues related to transmission planning, siting, and cost allocation will pose major obstacles to accelerated wind power deployment, but also of concern is the potential cost of this transmission infrastructure build out."

ISO New England (ISO-NE) Incremental Wind Analyzed 6.8 GW

Total Transmission cost range $3.90 billion (high) to (low) $0.58 billion
-that Secretary Bowles NYT's op-ed suggests ratepayers will pay this tidy sum off via electric bills.

My question is: Why isn't the AG of MA providing protection to MA ratepayers facing these wind energy related exorbitant costs?

John Gorman
May 6, 2009

The smart grid at first sounds like the "interactive TV" from the early 90's, brought to you by the networks: not that interactive, with all the promise but watered down choices. It was more about the status quo keeping control. But that never worked anyway, and what really happened was Tivo, which allowed people to save their own choices using their own hardware. Electricity is going to be the same - people will cache their own first before allowing a "central control" manage what they do. Which is ok, but still remains less compelling than a open, social network of electricity users - a social-and-smart grid not just a smart-grid. what possibly might happen via product evolution (smart meters being limited in functionality, expensive and without a truly usable API) is that people create their own "energy schemes" and get to share them on a site for other people to try out. you could make ad-hoc groups of people who can compare their energy use in real-time and write actionable scripts to do stuff with conservation and devices etc. NOT rely on your electricity company to come up with the imagination behind it: remember, this is boring!!

especially with electric vehicles coming up, there is an amazing dovetailing about to happen between dense and distributed caches of electricity in LiPoFe4 batteries and distributed solar panels and wind turbines. social networks of people that opt into groups: cooperative and social and independent. not the overlords. people will say: yes you can use my battery at night as long as the car is charged up by 6am. they will say no: stop that, I'm not turning off the toaster now, I want a midnight snack.

PV is getting cheaper, decent batteries are getting cheaper, the logic is getting cheaper. and we're past the age of TV, as it used to be. Tivo was one of those first little steps in that huge change of scenery. people have practically built their own tv stations at this point...

now it's cars:

http://www.tumanako.net/

Quaid Surti
May 6, 2009

Smart grid has still a long way to go in developing countries. I wonder if companies with solar and wind technologies are even thinking of how to make their presence there; be it with power production, transmission and distribution? Those who will take the lead with surely find themselves a league ahead especially when it comes to brand image and brand loyalty. May be this sounds weird to techies ;) qsurti@gmail.com

Stephen Lacey
May 3, 2009

Mike -- this article is meant to be a promotion for the podcast, not to be the actual in-depth content.

If you listen to the programs, you'll find that we talk about the distinct issues on both the transmission and distribution network.

In the third program about storage, we talk extensively about frequency regulation and load control, which are important parts of dynamic demand management.

Thanks,
Stephen

mike parr
May 3, 2009

As a distribution engineer I love these articles - content free zones written by people that have little understanding of how power networks function. For example, transmission networks and distribution networks have quite different functions and are managed in quite different ways. Transmission networks tend to be farily homogeneous wherever you are - dis-nets are amazingly heterogeneous.

Distributed RES is likely to impact more on the dis-net for the simple reason that that is where it will be located. Issues to be addressed at this level include the need to manage over voltage (high RES output - low demand).

"Smart meters", their functionality and supposed "benefits" are - from an engineering (and commerical) point of view still an open question. Of course smart meter discussions then leadsinto the area of demand management. Current thinking (yawn) tends to be heading in the direction of fully interactive control. This betrays a highly IT-centric way of looking at the issue. Dynamic Demand Management can provide a solution in this area - sadly it requires an in-depth understanding of how transmission networks (and their attached generation) functions. This is usually missing from any discussion - which in turn makes the discussion at best superficial.

Still what would I know, I'm only a distribution engineer who also founded an Internet company (amongst other things) so what would I know about power engineering and/or IT.

Stephen Lacey
May 1, 2009

You do have a point, Panthael.

Individually, no. There is not one expert who knows "all there is to know about the smart grid."

But we've collectively brought together a range of experts who provide a very detailed look at a diverse set of issues related to the smart grid.

Matthew Tripoli
May 1, 2009

I do enjoy your podcasts . . . But the title of this post and the series seems a bit ambitious. I don't even think that any of the experts you interviewed know "all there is to know about the smart grid."

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Stephen Lacey

I am a reporter with ClimateProgress.org, a blog published by the Center for American Progress. I am former editor and producer for RenewableEnergyWorld.com, where I contributed stories and hosted the Inside Renewable Energy Podcast. Keep...