Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Beacon Power Affirms Strong Support for $4-Billion Federal Government Energy Storage and Smart Grid Initiatives
Company Plans to Pursue Energy Storage Project Funding Opportunities Through U.S. Department of Energy Technology Development Grants
* On Wednesday April 29, 2009, 10:16 am EDT
TYNGSBORO, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Beacon Power Corporation (Nasdaq: BCON - News), a company that designs and develops advanced products and services to support more stable, reliable and efficient electricity grid operation, announced its full support for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) new smart grid technology development project funding programs. The program plans were announced on April 16, 2009, by Vice President Joe Biden and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.
The Vice President outlined plans to distribute grants for smart grid technology development ($3.3 billion) and for smart grid storage, monitoring and technology viability (an additional $615 million). As part of Vice President Biden's announcement, the DOE released a draft Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for a smart grid regional demonstration initiative. Beacon Power has reviewed the initial FOA and plans to apply for one or more grants to support deployment of the Company’s energy storage technology for grid frequency regulation.
“We’re very pleased that the Obama administration and DOE have determined that energy storage and smart grid technologies merit funding support to demonstrate the benefits their implementation will bring to our nation’s power grid,” said Bill Capp, Beacon president and CEO. “It’s very encouraging that flywheels have been specifically recognized as a candidate technology in the draft Funding Opportunity Announcement.”
“We are reviewing the relevant energy storage project opportunities,” Capp continued, “and we look forward to the details being finalized by DOE. We then expect to submit one or more grant proposals which, if successful, will help Beacon demonstrate how our flywheel technology can provide utility-scale frequency regulation service cleanly and efficiently, and in accordance with federal smart grid requirements.”
The draft FOA includes proposed funding for one or two energy storage demonstration projects for grid frequency regulation. The proposed total funding to be made available for the project(s) is $40-50 million, on a 50% applicant cost-share basis. The DOE has not yet announced a schedule for finalizing the FOA, or for submission deadlines or award announcements.
In addition to and separate from this new funding opportunity from the federal government, Beacon Power and DOE are in the final due diligence stage of the Company’s application for a loan guarantee. The loan guarantee, if approved and successfully negotiated, could lead to funding for a large majority of the cost of Beacon’s proposed 20-megawatt flywheel frequency regulation plant in Stephentown, New York. The proposed new DOE grant funding opportunities described above are additive to Beacon’s loan guarantee application – that is, Beacon has the potential to be awarded both a loan guarantee and one or more co-funding grants under the new DOE initiative.
* On Wednesday April 29, 2009, 10:16 am EDT
TYNGSBORO, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Beacon Power Corporation (Nasdaq: BCON - News), a company that designs and develops advanced products and services to support more stable, reliable and efficient electricity grid operation, announced its full support for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) new smart grid technology development project funding programs. The program plans were announced on April 16, 2009, by Vice President Joe Biden and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.
The Vice President outlined plans to distribute grants for smart grid technology development ($3.3 billion) and for smart grid storage, monitoring and technology viability (an additional $615 million). As part of Vice President Biden's announcement, the DOE released a draft Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for a smart grid regional demonstration initiative. Beacon Power has reviewed the initial FOA and plans to apply for one or more grants to support deployment of the Company’s energy storage technology for grid frequency regulation.
“We’re very pleased that the Obama administration and DOE have determined that energy storage and smart grid technologies merit funding support to demonstrate the benefits their implementation will bring to our nation’s power grid,” said Bill Capp, Beacon president and CEO. “It’s very encouraging that flywheels have been specifically recognized as a candidate technology in the draft Funding Opportunity Announcement.”
“We are reviewing the relevant energy storage project opportunities,” Capp continued, “and we look forward to the details being finalized by DOE. We then expect to submit one or more grant proposals which, if successful, will help Beacon demonstrate how our flywheel technology can provide utility-scale frequency regulation service cleanly and efficiently, and in accordance with federal smart grid requirements.”
The draft FOA includes proposed funding for one or two energy storage demonstration projects for grid frequency regulation. The proposed total funding to be made available for the project(s) is $40-50 million, on a 50% applicant cost-share basis. The DOE has not yet announced a schedule for finalizing the FOA, or for submission deadlines or award announcements.
In addition to and separate from this new funding opportunity from the federal government, Beacon Power and DOE are in the final due diligence stage of the Company’s application for a loan guarantee. The loan guarantee, if approved and successfully negotiated, could lead to funding for a large majority of the cost of Beacon’s proposed 20-megawatt flywheel frequency regulation plant in Stephentown, New York. The proposed new DOE grant funding opportunities described above are additive to Beacon’s loan guarantee application – that is, Beacon has the potential to be awarded both a loan guarantee and one or more co-funding grants under the new DOE initiative.
Putting A Price On Smart Power !!!
Power Hungry: Reinventing The U.S. Electric Grid
Putting A Price On Smart Power
by Jenny Gold
NPR.org, April 27, 2009 ·
An improved electric grid could potentially make electricity more reliable, more efficient, cleaner and perhaps even cheaper. But what would it cost to actually build it, and how much would it save?
The answer isn't simple. It's difficult to put a price tag on a new grid, and almost impossible to quantify the potential savings.
The Trouble With Costs
There aren't many estimates of what it would cost to modernize the grid, and the estimates that do exist can range from $100 billion to $2 trillion.
Part of the problem is that the grid isn't one coordinated entity — it's made up of dozens of little parts, which would be built and managed by different sectors of the energy industry.
And people often disagree about which of those elements actually count as the electric grid. Is it just the power lines? The "smart" technology? The power sources? Each can add hundreds of billions of additional dollars to a total cost estimate.
There's also basic disagreement over what the grid ought to look like. How many miles of transmission lines are needed to access renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar? Where should those lines be, and what kind of terrain will they need to cross? And moreover, what are the goals — how much of the nation's energy will really come from renewable sources?
The cost can also vary depending on how long it takes to get the different components built. Public opposition and environmental concerns can add years to the building process and also carry the extra cost of litigation. A 90-mile transmission line recently built in West Virginia and Virginia, for example, was delayed more than a decade because of problems with the permitting process, costing the builders an extra $50 million.
A Whole Lot Of Money
Pretty much everyone agrees on one thing about the grid: It's not going to be cheap.
The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that total needed investment in electric utilities could be as much as $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion by 2030. That would include money for energy generation (wind farms, solar farms, etc.) and all of the power lines to move the energy to your neighborhood.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu told NPR it would cost more than $100 billion to modernize the grid, but it's not clear what that would include or exactly how much more than $100 billion it could end up costing.
Mark Chupka, an analyst at The Brattle Group, says that when the economics consultancy first analyzed the potential cost of energy investment, $100 billion sounded enormous. But then the financial crisis hit, along with the bank bailouts totaling $1 trillion or more, and suddenly some of the potential grid costs that seemed so big a year ago "don't seem so big to the average person."
To bring the numbers down to size, here's one that's a little more manageable: $250 — that's the amount it would cost to install a digital smart meter in your home or business, according to the Center for American Progress, a nonprofit think tank.
The smart meter can tell you how much energy you're using on a minute-by-minute basis, and it can give the utilities a better idea of their customers' needs. With about 140 million residential and small-business electricity customers in the country, that comes to a total of approximately $35 billion for smart meters alone.
Who Pays For It?
The vast majority would come from private-sector investment. "It's a mistake to think of it as a one-time payment by the government," says Bracken Hendricks of the Center for American Progress. The stimulus package includes $11 billion dedicated to the grid, but given the overall cost, that's really just a down payment.
Most of the money for the grid would come from power companies and private investors who expect to make a 12 percent return on their investments.
But the cost is eventually passed onto consumers in the form of bigger electricity bills. Ever noticed the line on your electric bill called "transmission and distribution"? That's the added cost you pay each month to maintain and renovate the grid.
Mike Heyeck, senior vice president of American Electric Power, which has built the majority of the country's new extra high-voltage transmission lines, says that a $100 billion investment in the grid would add $4 to $5 a month to the transmission and distribution cost on an average electric bill.
But he adds that investment in the grid might lower another part of your bill: the cost of the energy itself. Over time, Heyeck says, electricity costs will drop with improved reliability, efficiency and access to energy sources.
How Much Will We Save?
It may be expensive, but investing in an improved grid will also generate returns.
Hendricks argues that the costs are a "fundamental investment" in a more productive and competitive U.S. economy and will ultimately represent a net gain.
"What we're buying with this is tremendously valuable long-term infrastructure that's going to improve our competitiveness. It's going to enable new business to grow, and it's going to enable us to avoid the impacts of global warming, which are by no means costless," he says.
Transmission congestion, which occurs when there isn't enough energy to meet the demands of every customer, currently costs consumers in the eastern U.S. $16.5 billion annually in higher electricity prices. And the Electric Power Research Institute estimates that power interruptions and fluctuations cost the economy more than $100 billion each year in damages and lost business.
A more efficient system, along with smart technology, could reduce congestion and fluctuation costs significantly. And access to renewable resources could mitigate the potential costs of climate change by reducing our dependence on coal.
A Necessary Investment
While demand for reliable electricity has increased in recent decades, investment in energy infrastructure has lagged. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the energy system only a D+ in an annual report card, saying that rapid investment is a must.
As Shalini Vajjhala of Resources for the Future, an environmental and natural resource think tank, says, "The trade-off isn't between build this or don't build this. It's between build this or build something else."
In other words, no matter the details on spending and saving, a major investment in an improved grid may be an unavoidable necessity — perhaps just part of the cost of doing business in America.
Putting A Price On Smart Power
by Jenny Gold
NPR.org, April 27, 2009 ·
An improved electric grid could potentially make electricity more reliable, more efficient, cleaner and perhaps even cheaper. But what would it cost to actually build it, and how much would it save?
The answer isn't simple. It's difficult to put a price tag on a new grid, and almost impossible to quantify the potential savings.
The Trouble With Costs
There aren't many estimates of what it would cost to modernize the grid, and the estimates that do exist can range from $100 billion to $2 trillion.
Part of the problem is that the grid isn't one coordinated entity — it's made up of dozens of little parts, which would be built and managed by different sectors of the energy industry.
And people often disagree about which of those elements actually count as the electric grid. Is it just the power lines? The "smart" technology? The power sources? Each can add hundreds of billions of additional dollars to a total cost estimate.
There's also basic disagreement over what the grid ought to look like. How many miles of transmission lines are needed to access renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar? Where should those lines be, and what kind of terrain will they need to cross? And moreover, what are the goals — how much of the nation's energy will really come from renewable sources?
The cost can also vary depending on how long it takes to get the different components built. Public opposition and environmental concerns can add years to the building process and also carry the extra cost of litigation. A 90-mile transmission line recently built in West Virginia and Virginia, for example, was delayed more than a decade because of problems with the permitting process, costing the builders an extra $50 million.
A Whole Lot Of Money
Pretty much everyone agrees on one thing about the grid: It's not going to be cheap.
The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that total needed investment in electric utilities could be as much as $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion by 2030. That would include money for energy generation (wind farms, solar farms, etc.) and all of the power lines to move the energy to your neighborhood.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu told NPR it would cost more than $100 billion to modernize the grid, but it's not clear what that would include or exactly how much more than $100 billion it could end up costing.
Mark Chupka, an analyst at The Brattle Group, says that when the economics consultancy first analyzed the potential cost of energy investment, $100 billion sounded enormous. But then the financial crisis hit, along with the bank bailouts totaling $1 trillion or more, and suddenly some of the potential grid costs that seemed so big a year ago "don't seem so big to the average person."
To bring the numbers down to size, here's one that's a little more manageable: $250 — that's the amount it would cost to install a digital smart meter in your home or business, according to the Center for American Progress, a nonprofit think tank.
The smart meter can tell you how much energy you're using on a minute-by-minute basis, and it can give the utilities a better idea of their customers' needs. With about 140 million residential and small-business electricity customers in the country, that comes to a total of approximately $35 billion for smart meters alone.
Who Pays For It?
The vast majority would come from private-sector investment. "It's a mistake to think of it as a one-time payment by the government," says Bracken Hendricks of the Center for American Progress. The stimulus package includes $11 billion dedicated to the grid, but given the overall cost, that's really just a down payment.
Most of the money for the grid would come from power companies and private investors who expect to make a 12 percent return on their investments.
But the cost is eventually passed onto consumers in the form of bigger electricity bills. Ever noticed the line on your electric bill called "transmission and distribution"? That's the added cost you pay each month to maintain and renovate the grid.
Mike Heyeck, senior vice president of American Electric Power, which has built the majority of the country's new extra high-voltage transmission lines, says that a $100 billion investment in the grid would add $4 to $5 a month to the transmission and distribution cost on an average electric bill.
But he adds that investment in the grid might lower another part of your bill: the cost of the energy itself. Over time, Heyeck says, electricity costs will drop with improved reliability, efficiency and access to energy sources.
How Much Will We Save?
It may be expensive, but investing in an improved grid will also generate returns.
Hendricks argues that the costs are a "fundamental investment" in a more productive and competitive U.S. economy and will ultimately represent a net gain.
"What we're buying with this is tremendously valuable long-term infrastructure that's going to improve our competitiveness. It's going to enable new business to grow, and it's going to enable us to avoid the impacts of global warming, which are by no means costless," he says.
Transmission congestion, which occurs when there isn't enough energy to meet the demands of every customer, currently costs consumers in the eastern U.S. $16.5 billion annually in higher electricity prices. And the Electric Power Research Institute estimates that power interruptions and fluctuations cost the economy more than $100 billion each year in damages and lost business.
A more efficient system, along with smart technology, could reduce congestion and fluctuation costs significantly. And access to renewable resources could mitigate the potential costs of climate change by reducing our dependence on coal.
A Necessary Investment
While demand for reliable electricity has increased in recent decades, investment in energy infrastructure has lagged. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the energy system only a D+ in an annual report card, saying that rapid investment is a must.
As Shalini Vajjhala of Resources for the Future, an environmental and natural resource think tank, says, "The trade-off isn't between build this or don't build this. It's between build this or build something else."
In other words, no matter the details on spending and saving, a major investment in an improved grid may be an unavoidable necessity — perhaps just part of the cost of doing business in America.
EveryBody's Talking Smart Grid
04/21/2009
Climate change, cap and trade, and carbon taxes seem to be "dirty words" to be avoided, but there's one term everyone seems to like - Smart Grid. Among the multinationals jumping on the smart grid bandwagon are IBM, GE, AT&T, Intel and Google, which are developing in-house technologies as well as investing in leading development stage companies.
Check out GE Energy's online ad, which promotes its Smart Grid wind turbine technology. Activate your computer's webcam and face it toward the solar panel or wind turbine icon, and the smart grid opens on your screen. Blow into your computer's microphone to make the turbines spin faster.
GE may be getting a little ahead of what the smart grid can do at this early stage, but clearly there's a lot of excitement about it. Jeffrey Immelt, GE CEO calls the smart grid one of the company's most important growth initiatives.
The development of the Smart Grid is being compared in importance to the transcontinental railroad, the interstate highway system and the Internet, and is expected to spawn companies that rival Microsoft and Google.
What the Smart Grid Will Do
When we talk about a smart grid, we're basically talking about modernizing the electrical grid of the 1960s and 70s into a network that uses microprocessors and software to work efficiently and to connect to renewable energy generation. A true Smart Grid works much the way the Internet does, enabling multiple applications to operate over a shared, interoperable network. The challenge is to create an intelligent, efficient network among our 14,000 transmission substations, 4,500 large distribution substations, and 3,000 public and private owners.
After two-way meters are installed, wireless sensor networks and software will show utilities how much and where energy is being consumed, and where there are problems or blackouts in the network. Homeowners and businesses will see their energy use in real time and be able to adjust their consumption habits accordingly.
This will pave the way for real-time pricing - energy use will be priced at different rates based on the time of day and the amount of electricity demand. Utilities will be able to manage electricity loads more efficiently and homeowners/ businesses will be able to reduce their monthly energy bills.
Once transmission lines are built, the smart grid will deliver renewable energy from centralized plants to where it's needed and it will feed energy from distributed sources like rooftop solar and wind systems to the grid, while compensating power generators accordingly.
Stimulus Funds for Smart Grid
The U.S. Department of Energy is handing out about $4.5 billion in cost-shared grants for smart-grid technology development under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It plans to disburse grants of $100,000 to $5 million to deploy grid monitoring devices, $500,000 to $20 million for smart grid technology, and $615 million for regional demonstration projects on smart-grid storage, monitoring and technology viability. A 20-day public comment period just began on the draft plan; the DEO will use the feedback to finalize the grant program structure and subsequent solicitation.
In early May, the Departments of Commerce and Energy will convene industry stakeholders at a Smart Grid meeting in Washington D.C. They will begin the all-important discussion of setting industry-wide standards - a key to making the smart grid a reality. Participants are expected to commit to a timetable for reaching a standards agreement.
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said, "A smart electricity grid will revolutionize the way we use energy, but we need standards in place to ensure that all this new technology is compatible and operating at the highest cybersecurity standards to protect it from hackers and natural disasters. The Recovery Act will fund the development of those standards so the exciting technology can finally take off."
Although the stimulus funds will jump start the modernization of our grid, it will cost $100-$200 billion for full build-out. The Obama Administration's goal is to install 40 million smart meters and 3,000 miles of transmission lines.
Europe, China and Australia also have smart grid initiatives. China's State Grid Corporation, which distributes power in all but five of China's provinces, announced it would invest RMB 250 billion ($36.5 billion) in 2009 for ultra-high voltage transmission lines to upgrade its electric grid and improve the flow of electricity from energy producing regions to densely populated areas. The European Parliament announced a policy that would deploy smart meters in 80% of homes by 2020, which is expected to become law by the end of 2010.
Early Action
As of 2006, only 6% of U.S. homes have a smart meter - the first step toward a smarter grid - but that may begin to change by the end of this year. Energy monitors could quickly become the latest addition to phone and cable company packages that combine TV, phone and Internet service. In Europe, Italian utility Enel alone has installed triple that of the U.S. (27 million meters).
Florida Power & Light (NYSE: FPL) just announced a $200 million "Energy Smart Miami" program, which, in partnership with General Electric (NYSE: GE), Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) and Silver Springs Networks, will bring over 1 million smart meters to just about every Miami-Dade County home and business, creating an automated grid in the next two years.
The partners are looking to the federal stimulus to provide the initial investment, which they estimate will create 800 to 1,000 jobs. FPL says it eventually plans to expand the network to its entire 4.5 million customers in Florida through an additional $500 million investment. FPL also plans to integrate solar plants at several universities and government sites into the network, and will add 300 plug-in hybrids to its Miami-Dade fleet and install 50 charging stations. GE supplies the smart meters, Cisco provides the networking software and Silver Spring provides the wireless communications.
Silver Spring Networks was also selected by Pepco Holdings (NYSE: POM) to provide networking solutions for its 1.9 million customers in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Washington D.C. And Silver Spring is a partner in Australia's government mandated advanced metering infrastructure rollout. The program, which begins September 1 and is scheduled for completion by 2013, will network about a million homes and businesses in Victoria. Silver Spring has networking contracts with U.S. utilities representing 20% of the US population, such as Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE: PCG), Oklahoma Gas & Electric and Florida Power & Light (NYSE: FPL).
Earlier this month, utility National Grid (NYSE: NGG), announced it will install smart meters in 15,000 Massachusetts homes, providing real-time data about electric use. Funding for the $57 million project will come from an additional 50¢ a month on customers' bills. Last week it filed a similar proposal in New York, which would involve 40,000 customers at a cost of $240 million; National Grid hopes to raise half through stimulus grants.
Texas utility Texas-New Mexico Power (TNMP) plans to put smart meters in 10,000 homes through a partnership with smart meter manufacturer SmartSynch and AT&T. The meters will connect to utility control stations through AT&T's wireless network. SmartSynch and AT&T have already connected smart meters at commercial and industrial locations to about 100 utilities. Verizon and other phone companies are also creating smart grid partnerships.
It's a win-win for utilities and phone companies to work together. Utilities can rent space on phone companies existing networks rather than building their own network, while phone companies get an additional, steady revenue stream for the wireless networks they've paid billions of dollars to build. The traffic - mostly real time prices and perhaps demand response events - would also be much smaller than wireless video streams.
But whether the phone company/ utility relationship works depends on how much the rental costs. Unmeshed Wi-Fi firms like Tropos are already attempting to undercut phone carrier prices.
IBM (NYSE:IBM) is incorporating its IT architecture into 50 smart grid projects across the world. In a AU$3.2 million ($2.2 million) deal with EnergyAustralia - Australia's largest electricity distribution network - IBM's architecture will connect 12,000 fiber optic sensors throughout the network.
In February, Google entered the smart grid arena with the launch of PowerMeter. There's a push for smart grid technology to adopt Internet Protocol, which would undoubtedly benefit Google. Google hopes to convince smart meter manufacturers to allow energy consumption information to be collected and displayed by PowerMeter on the Web. Google's blog says, "open protocols and standards should serve as the cornerstone of smart grid projects."
International consulting firm Accenture (NYSE: ACN) formed the Accenture Intelligent City Network to accelerate the development of smart grids around the world. Members, which include utilities and city authorities, will exchange knowledge and experience in planning and implementing smart grid technology.
Accenture says the Network will help create blueprints to deploy smart grids, including how to integrate them with broader investments in intelligent infrastructures, such as smart buildings and transportation. Charter members include Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL), which is working with Accenture on its SmartGridCity project in Boulder, Colorado; East China Grid Company, a Chinese transmission company; Russian Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Centre, which is creating an "intelligent" city in Belgorod; Dutch utility Alliander N.V. and the City of Amsterdam.
Climate change, cap and trade, and carbon taxes seem to be "dirty words" to be avoided, but there's one term everyone seems to like - Smart Grid. Among the multinationals jumping on the smart grid bandwagon are IBM, GE, AT&T, Intel and Google, which are developing in-house technologies as well as investing in leading development stage companies.
Check out GE Energy's online ad, which promotes its Smart Grid wind turbine technology. Activate your computer's webcam and face it toward the solar panel or wind turbine icon, and the smart grid opens on your screen. Blow into your computer's microphone to make the turbines spin faster.
GE may be getting a little ahead of what the smart grid can do at this early stage, but clearly there's a lot of excitement about it. Jeffrey Immelt, GE CEO calls the smart grid one of the company's most important growth initiatives.
The development of the Smart Grid is being compared in importance to the transcontinental railroad, the interstate highway system and the Internet, and is expected to spawn companies that rival Microsoft and Google.
What the Smart Grid Will Do
When we talk about a smart grid, we're basically talking about modernizing the electrical grid of the 1960s and 70s into a network that uses microprocessors and software to work efficiently and to connect to renewable energy generation. A true Smart Grid works much the way the Internet does, enabling multiple applications to operate over a shared, interoperable network. The challenge is to create an intelligent, efficient network among our 14,000 transmission substations, 4,500 large distribution substations, and 3,000 public and private owners.
After two-way meters are installed, wireless sensor networks and software will show utilities how much and where energy is being consumed, and where there are problems or blackouts in the network. Homeowners and businesses will see their energy use in real time and be able to adjust their consumption habits accordingly.
This will pave the way for real-time pricing - energy use will be priced at different rates based on the time of day and the amount of electricity demand. Utilities will be able to manage electricity loads more efficiently and homeowners/ businesses will be able to reduce their monthly energy bills.
Once transmission lines are built, the smart grid will deliver renewable energy from centralized plants to where it's needed and it will feed energy from distributed sources like rooftop solar and wind systems to the grid, while compensating power generators accordingly.
Stimulus Funds for Smart Grid
The U.S. Department of Energy is handing out about $4.5 billion in cost-shared grants for smart-grid technology development under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It plans to disburse grants of $100,000 to $5 million to deploy grid monitoring devices, $500,000 to $20 million for smart grid technology, and $615 million for regional demonstration projects on smart-grid storage, monitoring and technology viability. A 20-day public comment period just began on the draft plan; the DEO will use the feedback to finalize the grant program structure and subsequent solicitation.
In early May, the Departments of Commerce and Energy will convene industry stakeholders at a Smart Grid meeting in Washington D.C. They will begin the all-important discussion of setting industry-wide standards - a key to making the smart grid a reality. Participants are expected to commit to a timetable for reaching a standards agreement.
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said, "A smart electricity grid will revolutionize the way we use energy, but we need standards in place to ensure that all this new technology is compatible and operating at the highest cybersecurity standards to protect it from hackers and natural disasters. The Recovery Act will fund the development of those standards so the exciting technology can finally take off."
Although the stimulus funds will jump start the modernization of our grid, it will cost $100-$200 billion for full build-out. The Obama Administration's goal is to install 40 million smart meters and 3,000 miles of transmission lines.
Europe, China and Australia also have smart grid initiatives. China's State Grid Corporation, which distributes power in all but five of China's provinces, announced it would invest RMB 250 billion ($36.5 billion) in 2009 for ultra-high voltage transmission lines to upgrade its electric grid and improve the flow of electricity from energy producing regions to densely populated areas. The European Parliament announced a policy that would deploy smart meters in 80% of homes by 2020, which is expected to become law by the end of 2010.
Early Action
As of 2006, only 6% of U.S. homes have a smart meter - the first step toward a smarter grid - but that may begin to change by the end of this year. Energy monitors could quickly become the latest addition to phone and cable company packages that combine TV, phone and Internet service. In Europe, Italian utility Enel alone has installed triple that of the U.S. (27 million meters).
Florida Power & Light (NYSE: FPL) just announced a $200 million "Energy Smart Miami" program, which, in partnership with General Electric (NYSE: GE), Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) and Silver Springs Networks, will bring over 1 million smart meters to just about every Miami-Dade County home and business, creating an automated grid in the next two years.
The partners are looking to the federal stimulus to provide the initial investment, which they estimate will create 800 to 1,000 jobs. FPL says it eventually plans to expand the network to its entire 4.5 million customers in Florida through an additional $500 million investment. FPL also plans to integrate solar plants at several universities and government sites into the network, and will add 300 plug-in hybrids to its Miami-Dade fleet and install 50 charging stations. GE supplies the smart meters, Cisco provides the networking software and Silver Spring provides the wireless communications.
Silver Spring Networks was also selected by Pepco Holdings (NYSE: POM) to provide networking solutions for its 1.9 million customers in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Washington D.C. And Silver Spring is a partner in Australia's government mandated advanced metering infrastructure rollout. The program, which begins September 1 and is scheduled for completion by 2013, will network about a million homes and businesses in Victoria. Silver Spring has networking contracts with U.S. utilities representing 20% of the US population, such as Pacific Gas & Electric (NYSE: PCG), Oklahoma Gas & Electric and Florida Power & Light (NYSE: FPL).
Earlier this month, utility National Grid (NYSE: NGG), announced it will install smart meters in 15,000 Massachusetts homes, providing real-time data about electric use. Funding for the $57 million project will come from an additional 50¢ a month on customers' bills. Last week it filed a similar proposal in New York, which would involve 40,000 customers at a cost of $240 million; National Grid hopes to raise half through stimulus grants.
Texas utility Texas-New Mexico Power (TNMP) plans to put smart meters in 10,000 homes through a partnership with smart meter manufacturer SmartSynch and AT&T. The meters will connect to utility control stations through AT&T's wireless network. SmartSynch and AT&T have already connected smart meters at commercial and industrial locations to about 100 utilities. Verizon and other phone companies are also creating smart grid partnerships.
It's a win-win for utilities and phone companies to work together. Utilities can rent space on phone companies existing networks rather than building their own network, while phone companies get an additional, steady revenue stream for the wireless networks they've paid billions of dollars to build. The traffic - mostly real time prices and perhaps demand response events - would also be much smaller than wireless video streams.
But whether the phone company/ utility relationship works depends on how much the rental costs. Unmeshed Wi-Fi firms like Tropos are already attempting to undercut phone carrier prices.
IBM (NYSE:IBM) is incorporating its IT architecture into 50 smart grid projects across the world. In a AU$3.2 million ($2.2 million) deal with EnergyAustralia - Australia's largest electricity distribution network - IBM's architecture will connect 12,000 fiber optic sensors throughout the network.
In February, Google entered the smart grid arena with the launch of PowerMeter. There's a push for smart grid technology to adopt Internet Protocol, which would undoubtedly benefit Google. Google hopes to convince smart meter manufacturers to allow energy consumption information to be collected and displayed by PowerMeter on the Web. Google's blog says, "open protocols and standards should serve as the cornerstone of smart grid projects."
International consulting firm Accenture (NYSE: ACN) formed the Accenture Intelligent City Network to accelerate the development of smart grids around the world. Members, which include utilities and city authorities, will exchange knowledge and experience in planning and implementing smart grid technology.
Accenture says the Network will help create blueprints to deploy smart grids, including how to integrate them with broader investments in intelligent infrastructures, such as smart buildings and transportation. Charter members include Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL), which is working with Accenture on its SmartGridCity project in Boulder, Colorado; East China Grid Company, a Chinese transmission company; Russian Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Centre, which is creating an "intelligent" city in Belgorod; Dutch utility Alliander N.V. and the City of Amsterdam.
What the Smart Grid means for plant efficiency
By Jeff Postelwait
Online Editor
The Smart Grid is the convergence of information and operational technology applied to the electric grid, allowing improved security, reliability and efficiency to electric utilities.
That is the definition used by Burns & McDonnell's transmission and distribution group. Mike Beehler, vice president of that group, said the Smart Grid can be hard to define at all because of all the different technologies and applications it brings together.
"There are many competing interests in the technology of the Smart Grid and each technology wants theirs to be favored," Beehler said.
In addition, utilities want to get full rate recovery for what they invest in the Smart Grid, and to date many states have not specified how that expenditure can be recovered, he said.
Kiah Harris, a principal in Burns & McDonnell's management services group, said how the Smart Grid is defined also depends on who is looking at it.
"The regulator, the customer, the distribution system, the transmission system, the generator, the utility enterprise and the IT department ? each is seeing only their piece of the pie and there is still not an overall concept of Smart Grid from the air conditioner to the generator," Harris said.
One of the most important benefits of Smart Grid implementation for electricity generators is sustainability, Beehler said. Sustainability means an improved level of energy efficiency in transmission, distribution and use of electricity. This translates into lower line and transformer losses for the utility asset owner and conservation and load management opportunities for end-use customers.
The key question for those in the power generation industry is how the Smart Grid can improve efficiency on their side of the business. Beehler said the Smart Grid would enable utilities to send real cost-of-generation price signals to end-us customers.
"If that in fact works technically and is accepted by the customer, the generation asset can be used more effectively by improving its load factor," Beehler said.
The Smart Grid has other advantages for power generators, Harris said.
"It also provides for the ability to use load instead of generation for reserves and regulation service," Harris said. "This reduces the cycling requirements on units, which increases reliability and efficiency."
Another advantage that will only become more attractive over time as more renewable energy sources send their power onto the grid is how the Smart Grid makes renewable integration easier.
"Interconnection and metering of renewable distributed generation such as solar and wind is very challenging. The Smart Grid will require a highly reliable telecommunications backbone to deliver real-time generation data from distributed resources so that utilities can safely and efficiently integrate the resources into the general mix," Beehler said.
Some challenges, such as interconnection agreements, technical standards, net metering rate structures and resource availability and system dispatch may be addressed by the Smart Grid, however some may not, he said.
The real problem, Harris said, is the non-dispatchability of generation units and how to effectively operate the system with additional wind and solar power.
"Also, the integration of storage in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and ice storage units will allow the load to be sculpted better to follow the renewables and keep traditional generation at a more efficient loading point," Harris said.
Politically speaking, there have been some advances that could prove useful to the implementation of the Smart Grid, Beehler said. There is $4.5 billion in recovery act funding available for demonstration projects (including the Smart Grid) through the Department of Energy Office of Electricity. Requests for proposals are expected in June, and funds will be released in phases through 2010.
"The states are getting stimulus funds as well and several are allowing utilities to do immediate, 'shovel ready' distribution system upgrade projects," Beehler said.
Although some progress has been made, the rising cost of electricity will remain the biggest factor in spurring interest in the greater efficiency that the Smart Grid offers, he said.
"The Smart Grid will enable sustainable options for customers. They will demand it. Therefore, the next steps are for utilities to implement a deployment strategy for the Smart Grid that includes pilots of the most promising technologies," he said.
This would be followed by a full roll-out of a customer-oriented deployment strategy, he said. Distribution companies may prove to be the leaders once the Smart Grid enters the implementation phase, he said.
Source:
Power Engineering
Online Editor
The Smart Grid is the convergence of information and operational technology applied to the electric grid, allowing improved security, reliability and efficiency to electric utilities.
That is the definition used by Burns & McDonnell's transmission and distribution group. Mike Beehler, vice president of that group, said the Smart Grid can be hard to define at all because of all the different technologies and applications it brings together.
"There are many competing interests in the technology of the Smart Grid and each technology wants theirs to be favored," Beehler said.
In addition, utilities want to get full rate recovery for what they invest in the Smart Grid, and to date many states have not specified how that expenditure can be recovered, he said.
Kiah Harris, a principal in Burns & McDonnell's management services group, said how the Smart Grid is defined also depends on who is looking at it.
"The regulator, the customer, the distribution system, the transmission system, the generator, the utility enterprise and the IT department ? each is seeing only their piece of the pie and there is still not an overall concept of Smart Grid from the air conditioner to the generator," Harris said.
One of the most important benefits of Smart Grid implementation for electricity generators is sustainability, Beehler said. Sustainability means an improved level of energy efficiency in transmission, distribution and use of electricity. This translates into lower line and transformer losses for the utility asset owner and conservation and load management opportunities for end-use customers.
The key question for those in the power generation industry is how the Smart Grid can improve efficiency on their side of the business. Beehler said the Smart Grid would enable utilities to send real cost-of-generation price signals to end-us customers.
"If that in fact works technically and is accepted by the customer, the generation asset can be used more effectively by improving its load factor," Beehler said.
The Smart Grid has other advantages for power generators, Harris said.
"It also provides for the ability to use load instead of generation for reserves and regulation service," Harris said. "This reduces the cycling requirements on units, which increases reliability and efficiency."
Another advantage that will only become more attractive over time as more renewable energy sources send their power onto the grid is how the Smart Grid makes renewable integration easier.
"Interconnection and metering of renewable distributed generation such as solar and wind is very challenging. The Smart Grid will require a highly reliable telecommunications backbone to deliver real-time generation data from distributed resources so that utilities can safely and efficiently integrate the resources into the general mix," Beehler said.
Some challenges, such as interconnection agreements, technical standards, net metering rate structures and resource availability and system dispatch may be addressed by the Smart Grid, however some may not, he said.
The real problem, Harris said, is the non-dispatchability of generation units and how to effectively operate the system with additional wind and solar power.
"Also, the integration of storage in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and ice storage units will allow the load to be sculpted better to follow the renewables and keep traditional generation at a more efficient loading point," Harris said.
Politically speaking, there have been some advances that could prove useful to the implementation of the Smart Grid, Beehler said. There is $4.5 billion in recovery act funding available for demonstration projects (including the Smart Grid) through the Department of Energy Office of Electricity. Requests for proposals are expected in June, and funds will be released in phases through 2010.
"The states are getting stimulus funds as well and several are allowing utilities to do immediate, 'shovel ready' distribution system upgrade projects," Beehler said.
Although some progress has been made, the rising cost of electricity will remain the biggest factor in spurring interest in the greater efficiency that the Smart Grid offers, he said.
"The Smart Grid will enable sustainable options for customers. They will demand it. Therefore, the next steps are for utilities to implement a deployment strategy for the Smart Grid that includes pilots of the most promising technologies," he said.
This would be followed by a full roll-out of a customer-oriented deployment strategy, he said. Distribution companies may prove to be the leaders once the Smart Grid enters the implementation phase, he said.
Source:
Power Engineering
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Engineering a Smart Grid For Energy's Future
By Kim Hart
Monday, April 27, 2009
Current Group, a Germantown-based technology firm, has taken over a nondescript house in Bethesda and turned it into a laboratory for smart-grid technology, the system the company believes will bring the nation's electricity grids into the digital age.
In the front yard stands a utility pole hooked up to a special transformer that connects the power lines to high-speed Internet. Hundreds of sensors attached to the lines monitor how power flows through the home. That information is then sent back to the utility company.
The process, Current says, lets a utility more efficiently manage the distribution of electricity by allowing two-way communication between consumers and energy suppliers via the broadband network on the power lines. Based on data they receive from hundreds of homes, utilities can monitor usage and adjust output and pricing in response to demand. Consumers can be rewarded with reduced rates by cutting back on consumption during peak periods. And computerized substations can talk to each other so overloaded circuits hand off electricity to underused ones, helping to prevent blackouts.
"Utility companies are deaf, dumb and blind to the problems on hundreds of thousands of lines in local distribution areas," said Jay Birnbaum, Current's senior vice president. "These are extremely old grids, and the technicians don't know how to measure what's going on."
Smart grid technology aims to change that.
Some utility companies, including Pepco in Maryland and the District, have launched initiatives to give consumers data about their energy consumption habits in an effort to lower energy bills. Smart-grid technology takes such programs further by automating electricity distribution, which proponents say would make grids more reliable and efficient.
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By partnering with utilities, the company hopes to tap into $4.5 billion in stimulus grants intended to spur smart-grid development. When he announced the funding, President Obama pointed to a project in Boulder, Colo., as an example of a successful smart-grid experiment. Current is one of the companies working on the project.
The Boulder project also involves Arlington-based GridPoint, which provides software and information technology services to help run the smart grid, and Accenture, best known in the Washington area for government consulting work.
GridPoint's product lets utilities and consumers measure how energy is being used by appliances or air-conditioning systems in a home. Karl Lewis, GridPoint's chief strategy officer, said the online software will be even more useful when folks need to charge plug-in electric hybrid vehicles.
"A utility may give you an incentive to not plug your car in at 7 p.m. so you aren't using energy in a peak period," he said. "Instead, maybe you'll plug it in at 2 a.m. and, in return, you may pay lower rates.
"You can see how much your A/C system is costing every month, and how much you can save by turning your thermostat up two degrees," Lewis added.
Smart-grid projects require many components -- digital meters and software systems, for example -- allowing both smaller and larger firms to compete. Current started out aiming to provide broadband service over power lines, but shifted to providing the grid communications system when utilities' adoption of Internet via power lines was slower than expected. GridPoint initially produced appliances to store energy produced by solar panels.
Current's chief executive Tom Casey believes the technology will help utility companies better allocate electricity produced by renewable resources, such as solar panels or wind farms.
"A smart grid's system . . . can be paired up with the renewable resources so that when the renewable source is varying, the overall load can be varied as well," Casey told the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming in February. "This will reduce or eliminate the need for backup coal or gas-based power generation plants."
Monday, April 27, 2009
Current Group, a Germantown-based technology firm, has taken over a nondescript house in Bethesda and turned it into a laboratory for smart-grid technology, the system the company believes will bring the nation's electricity grids into the digital age.
In the front yard stands a utility pole hooked up to a special transformer that connects the power lines to high-speed Internet. Hundreds of sensors attached to the lines monitor how power flows through the home. That information is then sent back to the utility company.
The process, Current says, lets a utility more efficiently manage the distribution of electricity by allowing two-way communication between consumers and energy suppliers via the broadband network on the power lines. Based on data they receive from hundreds of homes, utilities can monitor usage and adjust output and pricing in response to demand. Consumers can be rewarded with reduced rates by cutting back on consumption during peak periods. And computerized substations can talk to each other so overloaded circuits hand off electricity to underused ones, helping to prevent blackouts.
"Utility companies are deaf, dumb and blind to the problems on hundreds of thousands of lines in local distribution areas," said Jay Birnbaum, Current's senior vice president. "These are extremely old grids, and the technicians don't know how to measure what's going on."
Smart grid technology aims to change that.
Some utility companies, including Pepco in Maryland and the District, have launched initiatives to give consumers data about their energy consumption habits in an effort to lower energy bills. Smart-grid technology takes such programs further by automating electricity distribution, which proponents say would make grids more reliable and efficient.
ad_icon
By partnering with utilities, the company hopes to tap into $4.5 billion in stimulus grants intended to spur smart-grid development. When he announced the funding, President Obama pointed to a project in Boulder, Colo., as an example of a successful smart-grid experiment. Current is one of the companies working on the project.
The Boulder project also involves Arlington-based GridPoint, which provides software and information technology services to help run the smart grid, and Accenture, best known in the Washington area for government consulting work.
GridPoint's product lets utilities and consumers measure how energy is being used by appliances or air-conditioning systems in a home. Karl Lewis, GridPoint's chief strategy officer, said the online software will be even more useful when folks need to charge plug-in electric hybrid vehicles.
"A utility may give you an incentive to not plug your car in at 7 p.m. so you aren't using energy in a peak period," he said. "Instead, maybe you'll plug it in at 2 a.m. and, in return, you may pay lower rates.
"You can see how much your A/C system is costing every month, and how much you can save by turning your thermostat up two degrees," Lewis added.
Smart-grid projects require many components -- digital meters and software systems, for example -- allowing both smaller and larger firms to compete. Current started out aiming to provide broadband service over power lines, but shifted to providing the grid communications system when utilities' adoption of Internet via power lines was slower than expected. GridPoint initially produced appliances to store energy produced by solar panels.
Current's chief executive Tom Casey believes the technology will help utility companies better allocate electricity produced by renewable resources, such as solar panels or wind farms.
"A smart grid's system . . . can be paired up with the renewable resources so that when the renewable source is varying, the overall load can be varied as well," Casey told the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming in February. "This will reduce or eliminate the need for backup coal or gas-based power generation plants."
Friday, April 24, 2009
GE exec sees smart grid becoming $3 billion business
Wed Apr 22, 2009 4:45pm BST
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - General Electric Co expects its smart grid electricity monitoring business to grow to represent $3 billion to $4 billion in annual revenue over the next three to four years, the head of its Energy Infrastructure unit said on Wednesday.
"It's going to be a lot like wind. It's going to take off quickly," John Krenicki, a vice chairman of the largest U.S. conglomerate and chief executive of the energy unit, told reporters before the company's annual meeting with shareholders.
Krenicki said the United States will likely be the most "meaningful" growth market for smart grid technology due to the Obama administration's stimulus plan, which includes spending on that area.
In smart grid systems, utility companies install more advanced electric meters in customers' homes, which allow customers to take advantage of lower-priced power at different times of day. The meters also communicate with the utility to prevent or minimize power outages.
GE makes the meters, as well as the systems utilities use to monitor them.
On Monday, GE, FPL Group and Cisco Systems said they were working together to roll out smart meters in Miami.
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - General Electric Co expects its smart grid electricity monitoring business to grow to represent $3 billion to $4 billion in annual revenue over the next three to four years, the head of its Energy Infrastructure unit said on Wednesday.
"It's going to be a lot like wind. It's going to take off quickly," John Krenicki, a vice chairman of the largest U.S. conglomerate and chief executive of the energy unit, told reporters before the company's annual meeting with shareholders.
Krenicki said the United States will likely be the most "meaningful" growth market for smart grid technology due to the Obama administration's stimulus plan, which includes spending on that area.
In smart grid systems, utility companies install more advanced electric meters in customers' homes, which allow customers to take advantage of lower-priced power at different times of day. The meters also communicate with the utility to prevent or minimize power outages.
GE makes the meters, as well as the systems utilities use to monitor them.
On Monday, GE, FPL Group and Cisco Systems said they were working together to roll out smart meters in Miami.
Feds make smart grid grants available
By Kent Hoover, ACBJ Wire Service
Friday, April 24, 2009
The Obama administration announced plans to distribute nearly $4 billion in grants to upgrade the nation’s electrical grid.
The grants were funded by the economic stimulus bill. Nearly $3.4 billion will go to utilities, manufacturers and other companies that want to install smart grid technology. The Department of Energy grants will range from $500,000 to $20 million, and recipients must provide at least 50 percent of the cost of the projects. The grants will be awarded on a competitive basis.
The DOE also will provide grants ranging from $100,000 to $5 million for the deployment of grid monitoring devices.
In addition, $615 million will be spent on demonstration projects in three areas: regional projects to quantify smart grid costs and benefits, utility-scale energy storage and real-time grid monitoring.
The Department of Energy and the Department of Commerce also will host a meeting in May to begin development of industry-wide smart grid standards.
Friday, April 24, 2009
The Obama administration announced plans to distribute nearly $4 billion in grants to upgrade the nation’s electrical grid.
The grants were funded by the economic stimulus bill. Nearly $3.4 billion will go to utilities, manufacturers and other companies that want to install smart grid technology. The Department of Energy grants will range from $500,000 to $20 million, and recipients must provide at least 50 percent of the cost of the projects. The grants will be awarded on a competitive basis.
The DOE also will provide grants ranging from $100,000 to $5 million for the deployment of grid monitoring devices.
In addition, $615 million will be spent on demonstration projects in three areas: regional projects to quantify smart grid costs and benefits, utility-scale energy storage and real-time grid monitoring.
The Department of Energy and the Department of Commerce also will host a meeting in May to begin development of industry-wide smart grid standards.
Utilities targeting smart grid upgrades !!!
Watch THIS VIDEO: Smart Grid players: AMBIENT; EMBER; ENERNOC
MHT's Efrain Viscarolasaga: Preparing the smart grid for more power !
Friday, April 3, 2009
MHT's Efrain Viscarolasaga: Preparing the smart grid for more power !
Friday, April 3, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Obama: $11 BILLION DOLLARS to Modernized U.S. ELECTRICITY GRID !!!!!!
Read full speech On Earth Day, Obama stresses clean energy
Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor
April 22, 2009 02:05 PM
=====
"It's estimated that if we fully pursue our potential for wind energy on land and offshore, wind can generate as much as 20 percent of our electricity by 2030 and create a quarter-million jobs in the process -- 250,000 jobs in the process, jobs that pay well and provide good benefits. It's a win-win: It's good for the environment; it's great for the economy.
Even as we pursue renewable energy from the wind and the sun and other sources, we also need a smarter, stronger electricity grid -- some of you have been hearing about this, this smart grid -- a grid that can carry energy from one end of this country to the other. So when you guys are building these amazing towers and the turbines are going up and they're producing energy, we've got to make sure that energy produced in Iowa can get to Chicago; energy produced in North Dakota can get
to Milwaukee. That's why we're making an $11 BILLION investment through the recovery plan to modernize the way we distribute electricity."
...
Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor
April 22, 2009 02:05 PM
=====
"It's estimated that if we fully pursue our potential for wind energy on land and offshore, wind can generate as much as 20 percent of our electricity by 2030 and create a quarter-million jobs in the process -- 250,000 jobs in the process, jobs that pay well and provide good benefits. It's a win-win: It's good for the environment; it's great for the economy.
Even as we pursue renewable energy from the wind and the sun and other sources, we also need a smarter, stronger electricity grid -- some of you have been hearing about this, this smart grid -- a grid that can carry energy from one end of this country to the other. So when you guys are building these amazing towers and the turbines are going up and they're producing energy, we've got to make sure that energy produced in Iowa can get to Chicago; energy produced in North Dakota can get
to Milwaukee. That's why we're making an $11 BILLION investment through the recovery plan to modernize the way we distribute electricity."
...
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