New commentary in SmartGridNews.com

My commentary Blowback Attack: The Smart Grid's Greatest Danger? is now live at SmartGridNews.com.

Comments

[Phillip Wolfe (pen name)]

Dear Erica, I've been involved with the "grid" at various companies since 1983, and involved with "smart or intelligent grid" just as long. My observations are based on actual field experience.

My first observation is the grid and its smartness has been around a long time albeit in different forms. It's just that its connected in different ways and at different speeds with different types of customers. My next observation is that technicians, electrical distribution engineers and gas distribution engineers have been working for decades with the smarting of the grid via automation technology for a long time. So I guess you can call that being smart.

My other observation which I think is more important from a market perspective is the "smart grid" has hit the point of "populism" and became "socialized" similar to what happened in the financial industry (think Cramer), the weather (think Weather Channel). The same is happening in healthcare and our ability to monitor our own bodies. We are all getting smarter...and thus more making even more independent decisions. The meter is becoming the object of obsession just like the 401K, or the Dow Joines, or our cholesterol level.

My point here is the utility industry, although regulated, is no different. The utility companies, their suppliers, and customers can learn from other industries on how to best deploy, market and "sell" and "buy" with such systems. We can also look at different market and customer segments for hints of the near future. For example, the commercial and industrial segments of the utility business always had the "intelligent meter" at their location that measure energy in 15 minute intervals. And the grid equipment serving their facilities were always intelligent (smart) that enabled remote control of such equipment in order to enhance the delivery of the power. And those large consumers always looked at their consumption during different times of the day. And they installed information management systems to better manage their energy. The challenge is to make it easier for other consumer classes that are simpler in their consumption and decision making.

Just like Cramer did for stocks, and the Weather Channel for weather, the "smart grid and the smart meter" is really about just a lot more information about a particular specialty that is becoming socialized and populist - that is the electric and gas utility business. Soon everyone will be an energy specialist - or maybe not. It depends.

Now there is one difference in the utility business that is not present and that is a comparison of choice or price that is available in other markets such as comparing price of gas. And therein lies the challenge which comes to my other observation. The U.S. consumer is an odd fellow. The U.S. consumer is fickle in that we really don't care about choice until we are not offered the opportunity. Then we really want choice. And if we think there is any mistrust about the price or were getting a raw deal then we really really want choice. This can all be handled by doing one thing - providing the customer the ability to monitor what is being monitored. That is, let the consumer install their own meter to monitor the smart meter and let them have choice to look at their own information. This is called dual-socket metering and is allowed under most utility tariffs. Many large consumers have dual socket meters. Its a meter right next to the utility meter. And if they don't have dual socket metering then they can get little electric pulses from the utility meter to "meter the meter" and meter their own usage against the utility meter. Now there you have a lot of choice going on....of consumers choosing to weigh themselves on a scale just like our own weight scale. And everyone is happy! .