United States utility giant Con Edison has released an animated video on the company’s Web site to promote the smart grid and to educate the public on the technologies being employed and deployed to modernize the electric grid such as self-healing capabilities, two-way data exchange between customers and utilities, and real-time information on energy use.
Marie Berninger, Third Generation Systems of the Future department says Con Edison’s goal was to “create a communications tool that simplified the complexities of smart grid. We wanted to show how elements such as intelligent grid systems and solar energy fall into our vision of smart grid.”
Among Con Edison’s smart-grid projects is a six million dollar trial in Queens announced last August and a system-wide smart grid upgrade supported by a $181 million DOE grant awarded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Some of the smart grid technologies explained in the animation includes intelligent grid systems that use sophisticated communications technology to find problems on the electric grid and fix them faster; eco-friendly energy sources that are more easily integrated into the electric system to reduce dependence on fossil fuels; and smart building technologies, such as in-home energy monitors, that communicate with a smart meter to enable customers to track and mange energy use.
The need for such management was made clear on Sunday afternoon of the 4th of July holiday, when Con Edison customers set the 2010 record for peak electricity use. The usage comes ten days after a 12,105 MW drain on June 24.
The Con Edison system delivers energy across a network of 92,000 miles of underground and 33,000 miles of overhead wires to approximately 9 million New York City and Westchester County residents.
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