Ambient urges collaboration in smart grids !!!
Jun 30, 2009 2:48 PM, By Sarah Reedy
Smart grid communications provider teams up with meter manufacturing Itron for complete smart grid offering
Ambient Corporation announced today it has signed a memorandum of understanding with meter manufacturer Itron (NASDAQ: ITRI) to integrate Itron’s smart grid and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) services with its smart grid communications platform. The combination of the two companies will offer a complete suite of smart grid functionality for the utility industry, but it’s just one of many partnerships that Ambient has planned, according to President and Chief Executive Officer John Joyce.
“The way I see this is that Ambient has been working on this communication backbone, which is a non-proprietary, high-bandwidth network that enables advanced metering, so we have in the past worked with other advanced metering companies, and we look forward to working with others as well,” Joyce said.
Ambient’s latest agreement with Itron will integrate Itron’s AMI application for the smart grid, called OpenWay, with Ambient’s standard-based smart grid equipment and technology to connect legacy equipment and advanced smart energy apps to the nation’s power grid. Itron’s AMI is currently in use in both consumer and commercial deployments for energy and water utilities. The company serves 8,000 utilities worldwide with products ranging from electricity, gas, water and heat meters to data collection and communications systems to AMI and automated meter reading (AMR).
As many utilities with AMI already in place look to build out smart grid capabilities, they have experienced pushback from their state regulators on the stranded assets they already made available to their customer base, Joyce said. Partnering with Ambient will enable Itron to pull those older meters already in place onto the smart grid platform, thus not leaving them stranded, and give utilities and their states the opportunity to move from advanced metering to smart grids, he said.
According to Joyce, state regulators are looking for the utilities to submit proposals for obtaining regulatory approval to do smart-grid pilots in anticipation of federal funding. That being said, not all utilities are waiting for the stimulus funds. For example, Ambient works with gas and electricity provider Duke Energy, which has already received approval from the state of Ohio to go beyond pilots and build out its smart grid platform. He anticipates that the stimulus funds will only further drive utilities to move from smart metering to entire smart-grid launches.
“You might have many utilities planning on receiving those funds before proceeding, but there is a great deal of interest,” Joyce said. “There is no doubt the stimulus package will help to support the buildout of smart-grid platforms, and many state utilities and regulators are looking to how that will play out in the next few months.”
Ambient’s technologies today run over Verizon Wireless’s cellular network, and the company entered into a joint marketing agreement with the carrier last year. Even as VZW’s markets the smart grid to its customers, however, Joyce said Ambient is also open to partnering with other telcos and IT companies like Google, Cisco and Microsoft, as they look to get a piece of the smart-grid opportunity.
Recently, AT&T has partnered with smart-meter provider SmartSynch and last week inked a deal with utility company Cooper Power Systems, while Qwest Communications partnered with Current Communications to sell smart grids to utilities. In general, Joyce said smart grids are a market that, by necessity, will be driven by many more partnerships and industry collaboration.
“Verizon obviously has a very wide network as they are advancing their technology, but there are going to be some utilities that prefer to work with other carriers,” Joyce said. “Just as we desire to work with more than one metering company, we look to work with more than one carrier. We see that as all complementary and important for the industry. Collaboration, especially at this stage, is very, very important.”
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Itron and Ambient Partner to Increase Smart Grid Functionality for Both Companies
Itron and Ambient Partner to Increase Smart Grid Functionality for Both Companies
LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. - June 30, 2009 - Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) announced today it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Ambient Corporation for integration of Itron smart grid and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) solutions, and components, with Ambient Smart Grid® communications platform. The partnership enables a comprehensive and complete suite of smart grid functionality that Itron and Ambient will jointly market to utility customers.
Under terms of the agreement the companies will closely integrate Itron's leading advanced metering application for the smart grid, OpenWay®, with Ambient Smart Grid communications technology to seamlessly connect legacy equipment as well as advanced smart energy applications to the nation's power grid.
Itron North America senior vice president and chief operating officer Philip Mezey said, "This is further proof that the OpenWay architecture is adaptable to multiple networks in support of smart grid deployments. Building the smart grid requires unprecedented collaboration. Our partnership with Ambient will help both our companies extend smart grid benefits to more energy users."
The agreement covers multiple technologies from both companies, including Itron ERT® technology, used for automated meter reading (AMR); as well as Itron Fixed Network and OpenWay RFLAN communications. The partnership leverages Ambient's X-3000 node and AmbientNMS®, key components of Ambient Smart Grid solutions, and network capabilities utilizing Verizon Wireless' cellular networks.
John J. Joyce, president and chief executive officer of Ambient, said, "This partnership brings together Itron's core consumer and commercial AMI technologies with Ambient's high-capacity communications network for a complete 'utility to the home' smart grid solution."
Itron is a leading, global solutions provider to energy and water utilities, with more than 14 million OpenWay meters under contract.
Ambient designs, develops, and markets Ambient Smart Grid equipment, technologies and services.
About Itron:
Itron Inc. is a leading technology provider to the global energy and water industries. Our company is the world's leading provider of intelligent metering, data collection and utility software solutions, with nearly 8,000 utilities worldwide relying on our technology to optimize the delivery and use of energy and water. Our products include electricity, gas, water and heat meters, data collection and communication systems, including automated meter reading (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI); meter data management and related software applications; as well as project management, installation, and consulting services. To know more, start here: www.itron.com.
About Ambient Corporation:
Ambient designs, develops and markets Ambient Smart Grid communications technologies and equipment. Using open standards-based technologies along with in-depth industry experience, Ambient provides utilities with solutions for creating smart grid communication platforms and technologies. Headquartered in Newton, MA, Ambient is a publicly traded company (OTCBB: ABTG). More information on Ambient is available at www.ambientcorp.com.
LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. - June 30, 2009 - Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) announced today it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Ambient Corporation for integration of Itron smart grid and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) solutions, and components, with Ambient Smart Grid® communications platform. The partnership enables a comprehensive and complete suite of smart grid functionality that Itron and Ambient will jointly market to utility customers.
Under terms of the agreement the companies will closely integrate Itron's leading advanced metering application for the smart grid, OpenWay®, with Ambient Smart Grid communications technology to seamlessly connect legacy equipment as well as advanced smart energy applications to the nation's power grid.
Itron North America senior vice president and chief operating officer Philip Mezey said, "This is further proof that the OpenWay architecture is adaptable to multiple networks in support of smart grid deployments. Building the smart grid requires unprecedented collaboration. Our partnership with Ambient will help both our companies extend smart grid benefits to more energy users."
The agreement covers multiple technologies from both companies, including Itron ERT® technology, used for automated meter reading (AMR); as well as Itron Fixed Network and OpenWay RFLAN communications. The partnership leverages Ambient's X-3000 node and AmbientNMS®, key components of Ambient Smart Grid solutions, and network capabilities utilizing Verizon Wireless' cellular networks.
John J. Joyce, president and chief executive officer of Ambient, said, "This partnership brings together Itron's core consumer and commercial AMI technologies with Ambient's high-capacity communications network for a complete 'utility to the home' smart grid solution."
Itron is a leading, global solutions provider to energy and water utilities, with more than 14 million OpenWay meters under contract.
Ambient designs, develops, and markets Ambient Smart Grid equipment, technologies and services.
About Itron:
Itron Inc. is a leading technology provider to the global energy and water industries. Our company is the world's leading provider of intelligent metering, data collection and utility software solutions, with nearly 8,000 utilities worldwide relying on our technology to optimize the delivery and use of energy and water. Our products include electricity, gas, water and heat meters, data collection and communication systems, including automated meter reading (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI); meter data management and related software applications; as well as project management, installation, and consulting services. To know more, start here: www.itron.com.
About Ambient Corporation:
Ambient designs, develops and markets Ambient Smart Grid communications technologies and equipment. Using open standards-based technologies along with in-depth industry experience, Ambient provides utilities with solutions for creating smart grid communication platforms and technologies. Headquartered in Newton, MA, Ambient is a publicly traded company (OTCBB: ABTG). More information on Ambient is available at www.ambientcorp.com.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Department of Energy Sets Funding Criteria for Smart Grid Applicants
By Douglas Streeks, Reporter-Researcher, BroadbandCensus.coom
WASHINGTON, June 28, 2009 – The Department of Energy on Thursday published eligibility criteria for applicants of so-called “smart grid” funding applicants, with up to $3.9 billion available in grants to support the upgrading the electricity grid.
The guidelines, released by Energy’s Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability Office, included instructions on who is eligible for funding, how the applicant may use the funds, timelines for funded projects, and functions the projects must be able to perform. Approximately $3.3 billion of the total is to be devoted to the Smart Grid Investment Grant Program; and $615 million for demonstration projects.
“These investments will be used to develop a smart, strong and secure electrical grid that will help integrate renewable resources onto the grid, deliver power more reliably and effectively with less environmental impact, and create new jobs across the country,” Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a statement.
“By investing in updating the grid now, we will lower utility bills for American families and businesses, lessen our dependence on oil, and help advance a clean energy future for the nation,” he said.
The proposed projects must not last longer than three years and the applicant must provide at least 50 percent sharing for the total project costs, have no conflict of interest and be otherwise eligible for award, the application said.
In an initial announcement issued on Thursday, the department said that eligible applicants should include individual entities or teams of entities and that organizations eligible for both lead and supporting roles include electric power companies, government agencies, universities and colleges, electricity consumers, and private companies. Federal agencies are eligible only for supporting roles and not for funding, the department said.
The grants are for the development, storage, and transmission of digital information relevant to device, grid, or utility operations; sensing and localizing disruptions or changes in power flows on the grid and communicating such information instantaneously and automatically for purposes of enabling automatic protective responses; and dealing effectively with system security threats.
Any application or machine must have the ability to respond to such signals, measurements, or communications automatically; use digital information to operate functionalities on the electric utility grids that were previously electro-mechanical or manual; and use digital controls to manage and modify electricity demand, enable congestion management, assist in voltage control, provide operating reserves, and provide frequency regulation, according to the notice.
Eligible investments for SGIG funds, said the department, may include internal devices that allow appliances covered for purposes of establishing energy conservation standards to engage in smart grid functions and installation of devices or modification of electricity-using equipment to engage in smart grid functions; monitoring and communications devices to enable smart grid functions in transmission and distribution equipment; installation of metering devices, sensors, control devices, etc., to electric utility systems, retail distributors or marketers of electricity that are capable of engaging in smart grid functions; software that enables devices or computers to engage in smart grid functions; equipment that allows smart grid functions to operate and be combined or coordinated among multiple electric utilities and between that region and other regions; enabling distributed electricity generators to be monitored, controlled, or otherwise integrated into grid operations and electricity flows on the grid utilizing smart grid functions as well as distributed electricity generators owned and operated by persons other than electric utilities; and devices that allow electric or hybrid-electric vehicles to engage in smart grid functions.
The final rules reflect the input of more than 600 comments that the department received on the proposal solicitations, the Energy Department said. While the department had previously announced that while the maximum award limits for both programs were being increased, it said it will support projects of all sizes. Under the final solicitations, the maximum award for the Smart Grid Investment Grants will be $200 million; the maximum award for the Smart Grid Demonstrations will be $100 million.
http://broadbandcensus.com/2009/06/department-of-energy-sets-funding-criteria-for-smart-grid-applicants/
WASHINGTON, June 28, 2009 – The Department of Energy on Thursday published eligibility criteria for applicants of so-called “smart grid” funding applicants, with up to $3.9 billion available in grants to support the upgrading the electricity grid.
The guidelines, released by Energy’s Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability Office, included instructions on who is eligible for funding, how the applicant may use the funds, timelines for funded projects, and functions the projects must be able to perform. Approximately $3.3 billion of the total is to be devoted to the Smart Grid Investment Grant Program; and $615 million for demonstration projects.
“These investments will be used to develop a smart, strong and secure electrical grid that will help integrate renewable resources onto the grid, deliver power more reliably and effectively with less environmental impact, and create new jobs across the country,” Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a statement.
“By investing in updating the grid now, we will lower utility bills for American families and businesses, lessen our dependence on oil, and help advance a clean energy future for the nation,” he said.
The proposed projects must not last longer than three years and the applicant must provide at least 50 percent sharing for the total project costs, have no conflict of interest and be otherwise eligible for award, the application said.
In an initial announcement issued on Thursday, the department said that eligible applicants should include individual entities or teams of entities and that organizations eligible for both lead and supporting roles include electric power companies, government agencies, universities and colleges, electricity consumers, and private companies. Federal agencies are eligible only for supporting roles and not for funding, the department said.
The grants are for the development, storage, and transmission of digital information relevant to device, grid, or utility operations; sensing and localizing disruptions or changes in power flows on the grid and communicating such information instantaneously and automatically for purposes of enabling automatic protective responses; and dealing effectively with system security threats.
Any application or machine must have the ability to respond to such signals, measurements, or communications automatically; use digital information to operate functionalities on the electric utility grids that were previously electro-mechanical or manual; and use digital controls to manage and modify electricity demand, enable congestion management, assist in voltage control, provide operating reserves, and provide frequency regulation, according to the notice.
Eligible investments for SGIG funds, said the department, may include internal devices that allow appliances covered for purposes of establishing energy conservation standards to engage in smart grid functions and installation of devices or modification of electricity-using equipment to engage in smart grid functions; monitoring and communications devices to enable smart grid functions in transmission and distribution equipment; installation of metering devices, sensors, control devices, etc., to electric utility systems, retail distributors or marketers of electricity that are capable of engaging in smart grid functions; software that enables devices or computers to engage in smart grid functions; equipment that allows smart grid functions to operate and be combined or coordinated among multiple electric utilities and between that region and other regions; enabling distributed electricity generators to be monitored, controlled, or otherwise integrated into grid operations and electricity flows on the grid utilizing smart grid functions as well as distributed electricity generators owned and operated by persons other than electric utilities; and devices that allow electric or hybrid-electric vehicles to engage in smart grid functions.
The final rules reflect the input of more than 600 comments that the department received on the proposal solicitations, the Energy Department said. While the department had previously announced that while the maximum award limits for both programs were being increased, it said it will support projects of all sizes. Under the final solicitations, the maximum award for the Smart Grid Investment Grants will be $200 million; the maximum award for the Smart Grid Demonstrations will be $100 million.
http://broadbandcensus.com/2009/06/department-of-energy-sets-funding-criteria-for-smart-grid-applicants/
Thursday, June 25, 2009
U.S. to spend $3.9 billion on "smart" power grid: Chu
Thu Jun 25, 2009 8:04pm EDT
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced on Thursday $3.9 billion in "smart grid" funding aimed at making power transmission around the country more flexible.
Addressing utility executives at an industry meeting, Chu said the funds would help create a system to allocate electricity more efficiently, whether through improved power lines or by allowing batteries in hybrid cars to feed back into the grid when needed.
"Right now, the way we distribute energy, it's like plumbing, it's down the hill," he told reporters at a news conference after his speech to the Edison Electric Institute conference in San Francisco.
Asked about people objecting to high-voltage power lines being built near their homes as part of a smart grid, Chu said he would appeal to U.S. national interests.
"People didn't like interstate highways in their backyard," he said. "But it was done for the sake of national security, and I would say even more so we will need a transmission distribution system for our national security."
Chu also said in his speech that California would receive $90 million from his department to spend on energy efficiency measures.
(Reporting by Braden Reddall; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced on Thursday $3.9 billion in "smart grid" funding aimed at making power transmission around the country more flexible.
Addressing utility executives at an industry meeting, Chu said the funds would help create a system to allocate electricity more efficiently, whether through improved power lines or by allowing batteries in hybrid cars to feed back into the grid when needed.
"Right now, the way we distribute energy, it's like plumbing, it's down the hill," he told reporters at a news conference after his speech to the Edison Electric Institute conference in San Francisco.
Asked about people objecting to high-voltage power lines being built near their homes as part of a smart grid, Chu said he would appeal to U.S. national interests.
"People didn't like interstate highways in their backyard," he said. "But it was done for the sake of national security, and I would say even more so we will need a transmission distribution system for our national security."
Chu also said in his speech that California would receive $90 million from his department to spend on energy efficiency measures.
(Reporting by Braden Reddall; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Microsoft wants your Hohm to use the smart grid
Joining its competitor Google, Microsoft is taking a stab at providing an online service that allows users to track their energy use, joining it with a recommendation engine that will provide advice on how to bring that use down.
By John Timmer | Last updated June 24, 2009 6:52 PM CT
Today, Microsoft took the wraps off a new Web service dedicated to managing energy use. Called "Hohm" (presumably, a play on the combination of "home and "Ohm"), the product will take advantage of smart grid data on energy use when it's available. Even when it's not, however, Hohm will allow users to input their own details and share the results of their efficiency efforts, adding a bit of a Web 2.0 sheen to matters. The move comes after a number of other major IT powers, including Google and Cisco, have announced their own efforts in the area, suggesting that a lot of people think this market is about to take off.
The Hohm service itself is a bit of a hybrid of a number of services. From the smart grid perspective, a growing number of hardware makers are producing equipment that uses standardized methods of structuring and reporting data. That allows just about anyone to plug into the data, provided they're willing to work with utilities to obtain it. At the moment, Microsoft has lined up four utilities that will work when the service starts up, but they're certainly going to be working hard to bring more on before then. Two smart meter companies were also in on the announcement, indicating that Microsoft has already started validating the input from some of the existing hardware.
The data, however it's obtained, will be stored using Redmond's cloud offering, Windows Azure. The people behind Hohm have undoubtedly benefited from the experience of those who've built Microsoft's medical records service, which also uses Azure.
Even if your utility isn't offering up data to Microsoft, Hohm will make it possible to both enter your own manually, or set up any metering hardware or smart appliances to report in to Hohm. Microsoft is definitely positioning this as a "you get out of it what you put in" type situation—the more information a user provides, the better monitoring and efficiency suggestions they'll get back out from the service.
Those suggestions will come courtesy of analytical tools that Microsoft has licensed from the DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. When concrete information is available, such as monthly power usage and a roster of home appliances, Hohm will offer up specific suggestions for cutting energy use. In the absence of anything specific, data on typical consumption by region will be used instead, although that clearly runs the risk of recommending that you do something that you've previously done.
The last facet is a bit of Web 2.0. Users will apparently have the opportunity to compare notes on different energy saving techniques and discuss matters among themselves. Tying everything together—input from other users, from Berkeley Labs' energy use models, and from the users' own data—will be Bing search technology. Microsoft is definitely eating its own dog food on this one.
At the moment, the company is only accepting requests for accounts in anticipation of the day that Hohm is ready for a closed beta. In February, the company gave enterprises running Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 a free tool dubbed the Environmental Sustainability Dashboard for tracking their environmental impact and energy consumption.
The move by Microsoft is an obvious recognition of a large and largely untapped market. Surveys show that most home users are interested in energy monitoring programs, and that their interest is largely driven by the potential for savings on their monthly bills. Although there are a number of companies already aiming to take a piece of that market—not only Google, but a number of small and innovative companies as well—most of them are limited by the fact that smart grid deployments are only just getting off the ground.
Microsoft is taking a bit of a calculated risk by allowing Hohm to work even in the absence of any hard data. This may give it an advantage over the companies that are waiting for the hardware deployments to catch up. But, in the absence of this data, there's the chance that users will be dissatisfied with the sort of general conservation advice that Hohm offers, and will wind up waiting for smart grid deployments as well.
By John Timmer | Last updated June 24, 2009 6:52 PM CT
Today, Microsoft took the wraps off a new Web service dedicated to managing energy use. Called "Hohm" (presumably, a play on the combination of "home and "Ohm"), the product will take advantage of smart grid data on energy use when it's available. Even when it's not, however, Hohm will allow users to input their own details and share the results of their efficiency efforts, adding a bit of a Web 2.0 sheen to matters. The move comes after a number of other major IT powers, including Google and Cisco, have announced their own efforts in the area, suggesting that a lot of people think this market is about to take off.
The Hohm service itself is a bit of a hybrid of a number of services. From the smart grid perspective, a growing number of hardware makers are producing equipment that uses standardized methods of structuring and reporting data. That allows just about anyone to plug into the data, provided they're willing to work with utilities to obtain it. At the moment, Microsoft has lined up four utilities that will work when the service starts up, but they're certainly going to be working hard to bring more on before then. Two smart meter companies were also in on the announcement, indicating that Microsoft has already started validating the input from some of the existing hardware.
The data, however it's obtained, will be stored using Redmond's cloud offering, Windows Azure. The people behind Hohm have undoubtedly benefited from the experience of those who've built Microsoft's medical records service, which also uses Azure.
Even if your utility isn't offering up data to Microsoft, Hohm will make it possible to both enter your own manually, or set up any metering hardware or smart appliances to report in to Hohm. Microsoft is definitely positioning this as a "you get out of it what you put in" type situation—the more information a user provides, the better monitoring and efficiency suggestions they'll get back out from the service.
Those suggestions will come courtesy of analytical tools that Microsoft has licensed from the DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. When concrete information is available, such as monthly power usage and a roster of home appliances, Hohm will offer up specific suggestions for cutting energy use. In the absence of anything specific, data on typical consumption by region will be used instead, although that clearly runs the risk of recommending that you do something that you've previously done.
The last facet is a bit of Web 2.0. Users will apparently have the opportunity to compare notes on different energy saving techniques and discuss matters among themselves. Tying everything together—input from other users, from Berkeley Labs' energy use models, and from the users' own data—will be Bing search technology. Microsoft is definitely eating its own dog food on this one.
At the moment, the company is only accepting requests for accounts in anticipation of the day that Hohm is ready for a closed beta. In February, the company gave enterprises running Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 a free tool dubbed the Environmental Sustainability Dashboard for tracking their environmental impact and energy consumption.
The move by Microsoft is an obvious recognition of a large and largely untapped market. Surveys show that most home users are interested in energy monitoring programs, and that their interest is largely driven by the potential for savings on their monthly bills. Although there are a number of companies already aiming to take a piece of that market—not only Google, but a number of small and innovative companies as well—most of them are limited by the fact that smart grid deployments are only just getting off the ground.
Microsoft is taking a bit of a calculated risk by allowing Hohm to work even in the absence of any hard data. This may give it an advantage over the companies that are waiting for the hardware deployments to catch up. But, in the absence of this data, there's the chance that users will be dissatisfied with the sort of general conservation advice that Hohm offers, and will wind up waiting for smart grid deployments as well.
Smart Grid Bubble? Heck No. Home Energy Management Bubble? Yep
Mon Jun 22, 2009 3:06pm EDT
By Katie Fehrenbacher - Earth2Tech
CNET’s Martin LaMonica raised the interesting question last week: Is there an investment bubble building around the smart grid? He cites the opinions of several investors worried about too much money being invested by venture capitalists, corporations like Cisco and IBM, and even governments. From my perspective,, there is one clear area of the smart grid that is seeing too much investment from venture capitalists, specifically — home energy management tools — but much of the smart grid investments coming from IT firms and the federal government just represent the first phase of funds that will help build a potentially huge market. At this point I don’t see unreasonable amounts of money being invested into many other areas of the very nascent smart grid sector.
First off, it’s hard to make such blanket statements about the smart grid as a whole. It will be made up by many types of technologies (both hardware and software) that have various attractive and not-very-attractive business models. We know we’ve been guilty of using the general smart grid term in headlines (that’s the problem with having a word-count limit) and lumping the billions of smart grid stimulus funds together, but the infrastructure will actually be very complex. At the moment a lot of companies are just starting to scratch the surface when it comes to discovering possible areas of innovation.
But venture capitalists have clearly been flocking to the home energy management space. It’s a favorite for VCs partly because they can easily understand it — it looks (and is) about connected gadgets, software and wireless communications. At this point the amount of VC-backed companies is really starting to get out of control. Earlier this month both home energy management dashboard companies Tendril and AlertMe raised multimillion-dollar rounds; last week home energy management startup EcoDog raised $4.6 million. Here are 10 startups that are offering home energy management tools and another that is using open source to make the products even cheaper (and result in lower margin for the companies that make the tools). Never mind the huge, blue chip companies that are also building these tools, like GE.
Ultimately a lot of these home energy management ventures are offering very similar options, typically a ZigBee-based wireless sensor kit that connects energy data from a meter (smart or not), and possibly appliances, to a viewing device, like an energy dashboard or a PC. This market is either a consumer electronics play (difficult in terms of scale and margins for a startup) or a utility partnership play (less to do with the tech and more to do with the relationships created.)
Some companies are trying to differentiate themselves by offering only the software management piece, and there could be some successes for those that can seal strong partnerships, like that of Lixar SRS and Cisco. But Google’s free PowerMeter will make a pure software play pretty difficult as well — a startup’s software had better be significantly better than what a team of Google programmers can create, which costs the user nothing.
So basically there are a lot of new, young companies trying to sell the same things. That could be beneficial for consumers (more choice) but will not be beneficial to the companies themselves. Expect a lot of these new firms to get bought up cheaply or even fold.
Other areas of the smart grid are maturing. Cisco entered the smart grid space to tackle end-to-end communications networking, while Silver Spring has turned into a well-established, well-funded firm in that sector. But end-to-end communications networking hasn’t yet produced a bubble, not by any means. Utilities and power companies are still moving relatively slowly to upgrade the power grid, and the communications portion of the smart grid could still grow to be worth as much as $20 billion a year over the next five years, according to Cisco.
There are even some areas of the smart grid that haven’t seen much investment. Smart-charging software, which would manage the rate at which electric vehicles charge, comes to mind. One of the only companies that’s developed a product in this space is V2Green, and it was quickly bought up by GridPoint. If we’re all going to be plugging our cars into the grid, there’s a huge untapped opportunity out there.
By Katie Fehrenbacher - Earth2Tech
CNET’s Martin LaMonica raised the interesting question last week: Is there an investment bubble building around the smart grid? He cites the opinions of several investors worried about too much money being invested by venture capitalists, corporations like Cisco and IBM, and even governments. From my perspective,, there is one clear area of the smart grid that is seeing too much investment from venture capitalists, specifically — home energy management tools — but much of the smart grid investments coming from IT firms and the federal government just represent the first phase of funds that will help build a potentially huge market. At this point I don’t see unreasonable amounts of money being invested into many other areas of the very nascent smart grid sector.
First off, it’s hard to make such blanket statements about the smart grid as a whole. It will be made up by many types of technologies (both hardware and software) that have various attractive and not-very-attractive business models. We know we’ve been guilty of using the general smart grid term in headlines (that’s the problem with having a word-count limit) and lumping the billions of smart grid stimulus funds together, but the infrastructure will actually be very complex. At the moment a lot of companies are just starting to scratch the surface when it comes to discovering possible areas of innovation.
But venture capitalists have clearly been flocking to the home energy management space. It’s a favorite for VCs partly because they can easily understand it — it looks (and is) about connected gadgets, software and wireless communications. At this point the amount of VC-backed companies is really starting to get out of control. Earlier this month both home energy management dashboard companies Tendril and AlertMe raised multimillion-dollar rounds; last week home energy management startup EcoDog raised $4.6 million. Here are 10 startups that are offering home energy management tools and another that is using open source to make the products even cheaper (and result in lower margin for the companies that make the tools). Never mind the huge, blue chip companies that are also building these tools, like GE.
Ultimately a lot of these home energy management ventures are offering very similar options, typically a ZigBee-based wireless sensor kit that connects energy data from a meter (smart or not), and possibly appliances, to a viewing device, like an energy dashboard or a PC. This market is either a consumer electronics play (difficult in terms of scale and margins for a startup) or a utility partnership play (less to do with the tech and more to do with the relationships created.)
Some companies are trying to differentiate themselves by offering only the software management piece, and there could be some successes for those that can seal strong partnerships, like that of Lixar SRS and Cisco. But Google’s free PowerMeter will make a pure software play pretty difficult as well — a startup’s software had better be significantly better than what a team of Google programmers can create, which costs the user nothing.
So basically there are a lot of new, young companies trying to sell the same things. That could be beneficial for consumers (more choice) but will not be beneficial to the companies themselves. Expect a lot of these new firms to get bought up cheaply or even fold.
Other areas of the smart grid are maturing. Cisco entered the smart grid space to tackle end-to-end communications networking, while Silver Spring has turned into a well-established, well-funded firm in that sector. But end-to-end communications networking hasn’t yet produced a bubble, not by any means. Utilities and power companies are still moving relatively slowly to upgrade the power grid, and the communications portion of the smart grid could still grow to be worth as much as $20 billion a year over the next five years, according to Cisco.
There are even some areas of the smart grid that haven’t seen much investment. Smart-charging software, which would manage the rate at which electric vehicles charge, comes to mind. One of the only companies that’s developed a product in this space is V2Green, and it was quickly bought up by GridPoint. If we’re all going to be plugging our cars into the grid, there’s a huge untapped opportunity out there.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Are We Smart Enough for the Smart Grid?
Are We Smart Enough for the Smart Grid?
Rich Duprey
June 19, 2009
Much of what's charging the Smart Grid investment discussion these days centers on software and devices that convey graphic information to consumers on their energy usage. Like jamming your foot on the accelerator of a new Fusion Hybrid from Ford and watching the green vine on its digital dashboard wilt and shed leaves, the visual feedback on smart meters from running your air conditioner during peak hours can lead to educated behavior modification.
Lovely Rita, meter maid
But the Smart Grid is more than just gee-whiz technology. While Itron (Nasdaq: ITRI), General Electric (NYSE: GE), and even Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) are giving consumers the tools to make better energy choices, just like the Fusion's digital display, there are other equally promising areas not getting the same attention as the meter maids.
To a certain extent, that's the nature of this emerging industry trend. Where solar, ethanol, or similar alt-energy platforms require substantial investments to build out the industry, the Smart Grid allows start-ups to develop software tools and networking devices to collect and organize the data on consumption to become the 10-baggers of the next decade.
Besides, investing in Google means you're also investing in its search-engine prowess. Buying GE also buys you a piece of its lighting, technology, finance, and health-care businesses. These might not be bad plays, but we're looking for Smart Grid investments.
The electric slide
Before we look at what else is out there, maybe we need to back up a bit and define what it is we're talking about.
Right now, the country's electric grid isn't all that smart. In fact, it's really pretty dumb. It was designed to do one thing: send electricity from the utilities into our homes. That was good enough for Grandma, but the U.S. consumes 100 quadrillion BTUs of energy each year, with much of it going to waste.
The promise of the Smart Grid is the development of a two-way communication system enabling utilities and grid operators to better manage and monitor the flow of electricity usage and channel it to where it's most needed. At the same time, consumers can take matters into their own hands -- through smart meters or appliances and electronic devices that can communicate with the grid -- to save money and make better energy decisions.
Between these two endpoints are plenty of opportunities for investors to profit.
Utilities and Grid Operators. The first pieces in the puzzle are the utilities and grid operators. Pacific Gas & Electric is one utility with an ambitious program to install 10.3 million smart meters across its entire grid by 2011. Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) and Sempra Energy are also implementing programs to meter up their customers.
Smart Grid Networks. You don't need to clog up the Internet or even rebuild it to get the data flowing from one end of the transmission line to the other. Privately held Trilliant and Silver Spring Networks are two companies doing the backhaul work of collecting the data from the smart meter and sending it to the utilities. They're using small communities of communication equipment called mesh networks to send the data back and forth.
Look out, though, because they might find themselves bumping up against Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO), which is offering end-to-end, secure communications for the Smart Grid. It promises improved reliability, reduced costs, and lower risk for utilities, and could allow Cisco to emerge as a major contender for attention, even if it is partnering with Silver Spring in Miami.
Demand response aggregators. Paying companies not to use energy during peak periods is a novel approach to scarcity management. Demand response aggregators assist consumers and businesses in remotely reducing their electrical consumption during peak demand periods. In return, utilities and grid operators pay them for the lower demands they place on the system. Two of the larger demand response aggregators are Comverge (Nasdaq: COMV) and EnerNOC, though several privately held companies like C-Power and EnergyConnect also act as intermediary agents, enrolling customers and taking responsibility for delivering the financial rewards to them.
Until recently, going after the residential customer didn't offer the same bang for the buck as getting large commercial and industrial clients on board, since individuals aren't as financially motivated to monitor and manage their energy usage. According to a 2008 Nielsen Claritas study, consumers are more likely to enroll in an online bill payment system than to participate in more "complicated online services." Real-time pricing, load management, and time-of-use rates all have very low adoptions rates. Yet as a critical mass of devices and opportunities develop, expect to see the residential user included in more demand response programs.
Energy management software. Whether it's the smart meter or the smart appliance, it's being run by software that establishes communication between the device and the grid operator. Echelon (Nasdaq: ELON), for example, provides homes and businesses with energy-aware devices that can react in real time to conditions existing on the grid.
A smart idea
The Smart Grid encompasses a variety of developing technologies, disciplines, and industries that seem confusing at first blush, but make a lot of sense as you dig further into them. Investors can leverage the public's nascent interest in green tech by plugging into these and other Smart Grid companies. It not only makes sense; it's smart, too.
Rich Duprey
June 19, 2009
Much of what's charging the Smart Grid investment discussion these days centers on software and devices that convey graphic information to consumers on their energy usage. Like jamming your foot on the accelerator of a new Fusion Hybrid from Ford and watching the green vine on its digital dashboard wilt and shed leaves, the visual feedback on smart meters from running your air conditioner during peak hours can lead to educated behavior modification.
Lovely Rita, meter maid
But the Smart Grid is more than just gee-whiz technology. While Itron (Nasdaq: ITRI), General Electric (NYSE: GE), and even Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) are giving consumers the tools to make better energy choices, just like the Fusion's digital display, there are other equally promising areas not getting the same attention as the meter maids.
To a certain extent, that's the nature of this emerging industry trend. Where solar, ethanol, or similar alt-energy platforms require substantial investments to build out the industry, the Smart Grid allows start-ups to develop software tools and networking devices to collect and organize the data on consumption to become the 10-baggers of the next decade.
Besides, investing in Google means you're also investing in its search-engine prowess. Buying GE also buys you a piece of its lighting, technology, finance, and health-care businesses. These might not be bad plays, but we're looking for Smart Grid investments.
The electric slide
Before we look at what else is out there, maybe we need to back up a bit and define what it is we're talking about.
Right now, the country's electric grid isn't all that smart. In fact, it's really pretty dumb. It was designed to do one thing: send electricity from the utilities into our homes. That was good enough for Grandma, but the U.S. consumes 100 quadrillion BTUs of energy each year, with much of it going to waste.
The promise of the Smart Grid is the development of a two-way communication system enabling utilities and grid operators to better manage and monitor the flow of electricity usage and channel it to where it's most needed. At the same time, consumers can take matters into their own hands -- through smart meters or appliances and electronic devices that can communicate with the grid -- to save money and make better energy decisions.
Between these two endpoints are plenty of opportunities for investors to profit.
Utilities and Grid Operators. The first pieces in the puzzle are the utilities and grid operators. Pacific Gas & Electric is one utility with an ambitious program to install 10.3 million smart meters across its entire grid by 2011. Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) and Sempra Energy are also implementing programs to meter up their customers.
Smart Grid Networks. You don't need to clog up the Internet or even rebuild it to get the data flowing from one end of the transmission line to the other. Privately held Trilliant and Silver Spring Networks are two companies doing the backhaul work of collecting the data from the smart meter and sending it to the utilities. They're using small communities of communication equipment called mesh networks to send the data back and forth.
Look out, though, because they might find themselves bumping up against Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO), which is offering end-to-end, secure communications for the Smart Grid. It promises improved reliability, reduced costs, and lower risk for utilities, and could allow Cisco to emerge as a major contender for attention, even if it is partnering with Silver Spring in Miami.
Demand response aggregators. Paying companies not to use energy during peak periods is a novel approach to scarcity management. Demand response aggregators assist consumers and businesses in remotely reducing their electrical consumption during peak demand periods. In return, utilities and grid operators pay them for the lower demands they place on the system. Two of the larger demand response aggregators are Comverge (Nasdaq: COMV) and EnerNOC, though several privately held companies like C-Power and EnergyConnect also act as intermediary agents, enrolling customers and taking responsibility for delivering the financial rewards to them.
Until recently, going after the residential customer didn't offer the same bang for the buck as getting large commercial and industrial clients on board, since individuals aren't as financially motivated to monitor and manage their energy usage. According to a 2008 Nielsen Claritas study, consumers are more likely to enroll in an online bill payment system than to participate in more "complicated online services." Real-time pricing, load management, and time-of-use rates all have very low adoptions rates. Yet as a critical mass of devices and opportunities develop, expect to see the residential user included in more demand response programs.
Energy management software. Whether it's the smart meter or the smart appliance, it's being run by software that establishes communication between the device and the grid operator. Echelon (Nasdaq: ELON), for example, provides homes and businesses with energy-aware devices that can react in real time to conditions existing on the grid.
A smart idea
The Smart Grid encompasses a variety of developing technologies, disciplines, and industries that seem confusing at first blush, but make a lot of sense as you dig further into them. Investors can leverage the public's nascent interest in green tech by plugging into these and other Smart Grid companies. It not only makes sense; it's smart, too.
The buzz is building for ‘smart grid’ power system
H. JOSEF HEBERT THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 20, 2009
WASHINGTON -- Thomas Alva Edison, meet the Internet. More than a century after Edison invented a reliable light bulb, the nation's electricity distribution system, an aging spider web of power lines, is poised to move into the digital age.
The "smart grid" has become the buzz of the electric power industry, at the White House and among members of Congress. President Barack Obama says it is essential to boost development of wind and solar power, get people to use less energy and tackle climate change.
What smart-grid visionaries see coming are home thermostats and appliances that adjust automatically depending on the cost of power; where a water heater may get juice from a neighbor's rooftop solar panel; and where on a scorching hot day, a plug-in hybrid electric car charges one minute and the next sends electricity back to the grid to head off a brownout.
It is where utilities get instant feedback on a transformer outage, shift easily among energy sources, integrating wind and solar energy with electricity from coal-burning power plants, and go into homes and businesses to automatically adjust power use based on prearranged agreements.
"It's the marriage of information technology and automation technology with the existing electricity network. This is the energy Internet," said Bob Gilligan, vice president for transmission at GE Energy, which is aggressively pursuing smart-grid development. "There are going to be applications 10 years from now that you and I have no idea that we're going to want or need or think are essential to our lives."
Hundreds of technology companies and almost every major electric utility company see smart grid as the future. In Virginia, Dominion plans to install smart meters and equipment throughout its service area over the next few years as part of a $600 million plan.
Such interest got a boost with the availability of $4.5 billion in federal economic recovery money for smart-grid technology.
But smart grid won't be cheap; cost estimates run as high as $75 billion. Who's going to pay the bill? Will consumers get the payback they are promised? Might "smart meters" be too intrusive? Could an end-to-end computerization of the grid increase the risk of cyberattacks?
Today's grid is seen by many as little different from one envisioned by Edison 127 years ago. The hundreds of thousands of miles of power lines that crisscross the country have been compared to a river flowing down a hill: an inefficient one-way movement of electrons from power plant to consumer. There is little way to provide any feedback of information to the power company running the system or those buying the electricity.
"The heart of a smart grid is to make the grid more flexible, to more easily control the flow of electrons, and make it more efficient and reliable," said Greg Scheu, head of the power-production division at ABB North America, a leading grid technology provider.
"The meter is only the beginning," said Alex Huang, director of a grid technology center at North Carolina State University. He said that instead of power flowing from a small number of power plants, the smart grid can usher in a system of distributed energy so electricity "will flow from homes and businesses into the grid, neighborhoods will use local power and not just power flowing from a single source."
There are glimpses of what the future grid might look like.
On the University of Colorado campus in Boulder, the chancellor's home has been turned into a smart-grid showcase as part of a citywide $100 million demonstration project led by Xcel Energy. The home has a laptop-controlled electricity-management system that integrates a rooftop solar panel with grid-supplied power and tracks energy use as well as equipment to charge a plug-in hybrid electric car.
Florida Power & Light is planning to provide smart meters covering 1 million homes and businesses in the Miami area over the next two years in a $200 million project. Smart meters are being distributed by utilities from California to Delaware's Delmarva Peninsula.
"We've got about 70 [smart-grid] pilots all over the country right now," said Mike Oldak, an expert on smart grid at the Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned utilities.
Center Point Energy, which serves 2.2 million customers in the metropolitan Houston area, expects to spend $1 billion over the next five years on smart grid. Residential customers are seeing an additional $3.24 a month on their electric bills, but Center Point says that should be more than offset by energy savings.
An Energy Department study projects energy savings of 5 percent to 15 percent from smart grid.
"This pays for itself through efficiency and demand reduction, and if you don't look at it from that perspective, you won't get your money back," said Thomas Standish, group president for regulated operations at Center Power Energy.
The cost and payback have some state regulators worried.
"We need to demonstrate to folks that there's a benefit here before we ask them to pay for this stuff," said Frederick Butler, chairman of New Jersey's utility commission and president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the current grid inhibits greater use of renewable-energy sources such as wind and solar that "will need a system that can dispatch power here, there and everywhere on a very quick basis."
But Chu and others also worry about security. "If you want to create mischief, one very good way to create a great deal of mischief is to actually bring down a smart-grid system. This system has to be incredibly secure."
And there is the issue of intrusion.
"Is the average consumer willing to pay the upfront costs of a new system and then respond appropriately to price signals? Or will people view a utility's ability to reach inside a home to turn down a thermostat as Orwellian?" Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said at a recent hearing on smart grid.
Published: June 20, 2009
WASHINGTON -- Thomas Alva Edison, meet the Internet. More than a century after Edison invented a reliable light bulb, the nation's electricity distribution system, an aging spider web of power lines, is poised to move into the digital age.
The "smart grid" has become the buzz of the electric power industry, at the White House and among members of Congress. President Barack Obama says it is essential to boost development of wind and solar power, get people to use less energy and tackle climate change.
What smart-grid visionaries see coming are home thermostats and appliances that adjust automatically depending on the cost of power; where a water heater may get juice from a neighbor's rooftop solar panel; and where on a scorching hot day, a plug-in hybrid electric car charges one minute and the next sends electricity back to the grid to head off a brownout.
It is where utilities get instant feedback on a transformer outage, shift easily among energy sources, integrating wind and solar energy with electricity from coal-burning power plants, and go into homes and businesses to automatically adjust power use based on prearranged agreements.
"It's the marriage of information technology and automation technology with the existing electricity network. This is the energy Internet," said Bob Gilligan, vice president for transmission at GE Energy, which is aggressively pursuing smart-grid development. "There are going to be applications 10 years from now that you and I have no idea that we're going to want or need or think are essential to our lives."
Hundreds of technology companies and almost every major electric utility company see smart grid as the future. In Virginia, Dominion plans to install smart meters and equipment throughout its service area over the next few years as part of a $600 million plan.
Such interest got a boost with the availability of $4.5 billion in federal economic recovery money for smart-grid technology.
But smart grid won't be cheap; cost estimates run as high as $75 billion. Who's going to pay the bill? Will consumers get the payback they are promised? Might "smart meters" be too intrusive? Could an end-to-end computerization of the grid increase the risk of cyberattacks?
Today's grid is seen by many as little different from one envisioned by Edison 127 years ago. The hundreds of thousands of miles of power lines that crisscross the country have been compared to a river flowing down a hill: an inefficient one-way movement of electrons from power plant to consumer. There is little way to provide any feedback of information to the power company running the system or those buying the electricity.
"The heart of a smart grid is to make the grid more flexible, to more easily control the flow of electrons, and make it more efficient and reliable," said Greg Scheu, head of the power-production division at ABB North America, a leading grid technology provider.
"The meter is only the beginning," said Alex Huang, director of a grid technology center at North Carolina State University. He said that instead of power flowing from a small number of power plants, the smart grid can usher in a system of distributed energy so electricity "will flow from homes and businesses into the grid, neighborhoods will use local power and not just power flowing from a single source."
There are glimpses of what the future grid might look like.
On the University of Colorado campus in Boulder, the chancellor's home has been turned into a smart-grid showcase as part of a citywide $100 million demonstration project led by Xcel Energy. The home has a laptop-controlled electricity-management system that integrates a rooftop solar panel with grid-supplied power and tracks energy use as well as equipment to charge a plug-in hybrid electric car.
Florida Power & Light is planning to provide smart meters covering 1 million homes and businesses in the Miami area over the next two years in a $200 million project. Smart meters are being distributed by utilities from California to Delaware's Delmarva Peninsula.
"We've got about 70 [smart-grid] pilots all over the country right now," said Mike Oldak, an expert on smart grid at the Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned utilities.
Center Point Energy, which serves 2.2 million customers in the metropolitan Houston area, expects to spend $1 billion over the next five years on smart grid. Residential customers are seeing an additional $3.24 a month on their electric bills, but Center Point says that should be more than offset by energy savings.
An Energy Department study projects energy savings of 5 percent to 15 percent from smart grid.
"This pays for itself through efficiency and demand reduction, and if you don't look at it from that perspective, you won't get your money back," said Thomas Standish, group president for regulated operations at Center Power Energy.
The cost and payback have some state regulators worried.
"We need to demonstrate to folks that there's a benefit here before we ask them to pay for this stuff," said Frederick Butler, chairman of New Jersey's utility commission and president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the current grid inhibits greater use of renewable-energy sources such as wind and solar that "will need a system that can dispatch power here, there and everywhere on a very quick basis."
But Chu and others also worry about security. "If you want to create mischief, one very good way to create a great deal of mischief is to actually bring down a smart-grid system. This system has to be incredibly secure."
And there is the issue of intrusion.
"Is the average consumer willing to pay the upfront costs of a new system and then respond appropriately to price signals? Or will people view a utility's ability to reach inside a home to turn down a thermostat as Orwellian?" Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said at a recent hearing on smart grid.
Friday, June 19, 2009
NIST releases report on Smart Grid development
NIST releases report on Smart Grid development
Author: RP news wires
Issue: /
The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology on June 18 released for public review a report* that identifies issues and proposes priorities for developing technical standards and an architecture for a U.S. Smart Grid. The Smart Grid is a planned nationwide network that will use 21st century information technology to deliver electricity efficiently, reliably and securely, while allowing increased use of renewable power sources.
The nearly 300-page report, developed and delivered to NIST by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), is available on the NIST Smart Grid Web site.
NIST will accept public comments on the report for 30 days after the publication of an upcoming notice in the Federal Register announcing the report’s availability.
This report is part of the first phase of NIST’s three-phase plan, announced in April, to expedite development of key standards for the Smart Grid.
“Widely adopted interoperability standards will enable integration, effective cooperation, and secure two-way communication among the many networked elements of a smart electric power grid,” said George Arnold, NIST national coordinator for Smart Grid interoperability. “This report is an important step forward in that process.”
Under the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, NIST has “primary responsibility to coordinate development of a framework that includes protocols and model standards for information management to achieve interoperability of smart grid devices and systems…”
NIST is working closely with the Department of Energy, the lead agency in the federal Smart Grid effort.
Earlier this year, NIST awarded a contract to EPRI for assistance in developing the standards framework. EPRI technical experts have compiled and distilled recommendations from a variety of Smart Grid stakeholders, including technical contributions taken from two EPRI-facilitated, two-day, public workshops. The EPRI report also incorporates contributions from six expert working groups established by NIST in 2008, and a cybersecurity coordination task group established in 2009. Hundreds of people have participated in the road mapping process to date.
NIST will use the EPRI report in drafting the NIST Smart Grid Interoperability Standards Framework. The NIST document will describe a high-level architecture, identify an initial set of key standards, and provide a roadmap for developing new or revised standards needed to realize the Smart Grid. Release 1.0 of the NIST Smart Grid Interoperability Standards Framework is planned to be available in September.
A third public EPRI-sponsored Smart Grid interoperability-standards workshop will be held in early August to engage standards-development organizations in responding to unaddressed, high-priority needs identified in the draft standards road map.
Ultimately, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) determines whether sufficient consensus has been reached to implement final standards and protocols necessary for Smart Grid functionality and interoperability. NIST’s role is to identify and submit to FERC recommendations for the final product.
As a non-regulatory agency, NIST promotes U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life.
* Report to NIST on the Smart Grid Interoperability Standards Roadmap (Contract No. SB1341-09-CN-0031 — Deliverable 7) Prepared by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), June 17, 2009.
Author: RP news wires
Issue: /
The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology on June 18 released for public review a report* that identifies issues and proposes priorities for developing technical standards and an architecture for a U.S. Smart Grid. The Smart Grid is a planned nationwide network that will use 21st century information technology to deliver electricity efficiently, reliably and securely, while allowing increased use of renewable power sources.
The nearly 300-page report, developed and delivered to NIST by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), is available on the NIST Smart Grid Web site.
NIST will accept public comments on the report for 30 days after the publication of an upcoming notice in the Federal Register announcing the report’s availability.
This report is part of the first phase of NIST’s three-phase plan, announced in April, to expedite development of key standards for the Smart Grid.
“Widely adopted interoperability standards will enable integration, effective cooperation, and secure two-way communication among the many networked elements of a smart electric power grid,” said George Arnold, NIST national coordinator for Smart Grid interoperability. “This report is an important step forward in that process.”
Under the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, NIST has “primary responsibility to coordinate development of a framework that includes protocols and model standards for information management to achieve interoperability of smart grid devices and systems…”
NIST is working closely with the Department of Energy, the lead agency in the federal Smart Grid effort.
Earlier this year, NIST awarded a contract to EPRI for assistance in developing the standards framework. EPRI technical experts have compiled and distilled recommendations from a variety of Smart Grid stakeholders, including technical contributions taken from two EPRI-facilitated, two-day, public workshops. The EPRI report also incorporates contributions from six expert working groups established by NIST in 2008, and a cybersecurity coordination task group established in 2009. Hundreds of people have participated in the road mapping process to date.
NIST will use the EPRI report in drafting the NIST Smart Grid Interoperability Standards Framework. The NIST document will describe a high-level architecture, identify an initial set of key standards, and provide a roadmap for developing new or revised standards needed to realize the Smart Grid. Release 1.0 of the NIST Smart Grid Interoperability Standards Framework is planned to be available in September.
A third public EPRI-sponsored Smart Grid interoperability-standards workshop will be held in early August to engage standards-development organizations in responding to unaddressed, high-priority needs identified in the draft standards road map.
Ultimately, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) determines whether sufficient consensus has been reached to implement final standards and protocols necessary for Smart Grid functionality and interoperability. NIST’s role is to identify and submit to FERC recommendations for the final product.
As a non-regulatory agency, NIST promotes U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life.
* Report to NIST on the Smart Grid Interoperability Standards Roadmap (Contract No. SB1341-09-CN-0031 — Deliverable 7) Prepared by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), June 17, 2009.
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