Pike Research predicted 84 percent of the $200 billion will go toward investing in automating the grid, while just 14 percent will go to smart-meter technologies and 2 percent for electric vehicles !!!

Monday, December 28, 2009, 2:35pm PST

$200B expected for smart-grid technology

Sacramento Business Journal - by Denver Business Journal

Governments and utilities are expected to spend a cumulative $200 billion on smart-grid technologies from 2008 through 2015, according to a report released Monday by Pike Research.

The Boulder, Colo.-based research firm found that utilities will find the best return on their investment, and predicted they’ll invest most of their capital budgets in smart-grid infrastructure projects.

In October, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District was awarded $127.5 million in federal economic stimulus funds that will go toward a $308 million smart-grid infrastructure investment. The award was easily the largest of several issued in the Sacramento region.

“Smart grid” is a term used to describe technological innovations to help conserve energy, such as so-called “smart meters,” which allow homeowners to cut down on electricity usage.

Pike Research predicted 84 percent of the $200 billion will go toward investing in automating the grid, while just 14 percent will go to smart-meter technologies and 2 percent for electric vehicles.

Laura Ipsen, a Cisco executive vice president, said the smart grid could be bigger than the Internet.

Cisco: All bets on smart grid

Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal - by Mary Duan

Photo courtesy of Charlie Nucci Photography

Laura Ipsen, a Cisco executive vice president, said the smart grid could be bigger than the Internet.

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From the time an electron is born to the time an electron is consumed, Cisco Systems Inc. wants to track it, understand it and help producers and users get the maximum benefit from it. And Silicon Valley’s networking giant is placing a large bet on the premise that the smart grid will eventually be bigger than the Internet.

It’s a bold marching order for Cisco Executive Vice President Laura Ipsen, who was recently named general manager of the Smart Grid Business Unit.

Ipsen said for every intelligent thing that is connected — from a clothes dryer to a plug-in electric vehicle — there will be a lot of data flowing that has to be managed and secured with “ruggedized and resilient” routing.

“It’s potentially billions of things that will be connected. It’s wind and solar and hydro and hybrid vehicles,” Ipsen said. “The smart grid of the future may be bigger than the Internet.”

Cisco tagged Ipsen to lead its new Smart Grid Business Unit, whose mission is enabling industry migration to an IP-based infrastructure for smart grids and energy management applications. The business unit already has assembled a 25-member smart grid ecosystem of technology companies, system integrators and service providers, including Accenture, Oracle Corp., General Electric Co.,Wipro Technologies and SecureLogix Corp., to work with Cisco to develop open solutions to make the smart grid a reality.

Cisco’s move into the smart grid arena is being driven by the utilities, Ipsen said. The company has been working with the utility sector from Cisco’s IT side for years, but in the past 18 months, the utilities came to Cisco for help in the development of a smart grid network.

Ipsen previously developed Cisco’s public policy agenda and helped advance governmental policies in support of broadband and IP-based technologies. She said Cisco’s stance is that unless the world builds out a smart grid, renewable energy will not be as effective.

For an industry built for sustainability — the utility industry — the smart grid makes sense. Cisco wants to provide the vision and architecture that will enable end-to-end distribution, while also helping commercial and residential customers better understand how their businesses, homes and devices use energy.

“The whole goal of the utility industry is to make sure the lights stay on. In California in particular, companies are very eager to pursue innovation but not at the cost of disrupting their businesses or their customers,” Ipsen said. “If you introduce infrastructure into the grid, it has to be durable. They don’t just plug things in overnight.”

Cisco currently is working on a number of smart grid pilot programs, including projects with Florida Light and Power to give residential customers a “green dashboard” for how power is used in the home. Cisco also is working with Duke Energy and several European-based utilities on other programs to make sure the pilots are replicable.

“We’re in a lot of pilots, but we want to avoid death by pilot,” she said. “We need to achieve solutions for the smart grid, not just make PowerPoint charts.”

China's biggest electricity distributor- State Grid to study Duke's Smart Grid for USE IN CHINA

Duke Energy, China's State Grid In Talks For Power JV -Sources

BEIJING, Dec 20, 2009 (Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex) -- DUK | Quote | Chart | News |PowerRating -- Duke Energy Corp. (DUK) is in talks with State Grid Corp., China's biggest electricity distributor, for a joint venture that may involve installing power transmission lines in the U.S., according to two people familiar with the situation.


The move shows how U.S. utilities are keen to tap China's low-cost equipment and access to cheap credit to advance capital-intensive projects such as the construction of high-voltage transmission lines, which experts say are more efficient over long distances than conventional power cables.
Confirming talks were under way on cooperation in building transmission lines in the U.S., a State Grid executive said Duke "regards highly our power transmission technology."


According to another person close to the negotiations, State Grid also wants to study Duke's smart grid technology for use in China.



Duke spokesman Tom Williams said the company was interested in partnering with Chinese companies for transmission line projects in the U.S., but added talks are still in early stages.
Duke has previously named State Grid as a potential partner for projects, without specifying what these would involve.

The modernization of Duke Energy’s power grid is under way in Ohio

The modernization of Duke Energy’s power grid is under way in Ohio.
What is the smart grid?
A smart grid is a power distribution system that uses digital technology to enable two-way “conversation”
between Duke Energy and our customers, using advanced meters and other high-tech communications
equipment. It’s a new way of working with our customers – helping them to manage energy better, save
money and help the environment.
By giving Duke Energy timely information about what is happening on our system, the smart grid allows
us to quickly detect and resolve problems, prevent and shorten power outages, improve
service reliability and give customers information to better manage their energy use.
How does it work?
It starts by installing communication boxes alongside our transformers. These boxes
may not look high-tech, but they are the “brains” of the whole smart grid system.
They create a virtual energy Internet – collecting data from the smart meters and
other digital equipment on the power lines, and sending it over a wireless network
back to Duke Energy and then back to the customer. We will install more than 10,000
communication boxes in Ohio in 2010.
Smart digital meters give the communication boxes something to talk about – valuable
data about a home or business’s energy use. Since 2008, when the Public Utilities
Commission of Ohio approved our smart grid program, Duke Energy has installed
approximately 60,000 smart electric meters and 40,000 smart gas meters in Ohio
And in 2010, we will install about 80,000 more smart electric meters and 58,000
more smart gas meters.
This map shows where meters are scheduled to be installed starting in 2010.
Duke Energy customers who live in counties / areas not shown on the map
should expect to receive smart meter starting in 2012 and beyond.

DUKE ENERGY`S PROJECTED SMART METER INSTALLATIONS - GREATER CINCINNATI, OHIO AREA

Click here PROJECTED SMART METER INSTALLATIONS - GREATER CINCINNATI, OHIO AREA

U.S. smart grid market poised to double by 2014

U.S. smart grid market poised to double by 2014

WSJ: U.K. Govt Launches Smart Meter Plan For UK By 2020

DECEMBER 2, 2009, 12:45 P.M. ET