Dec 28 2009

Smart Grid: Boring is Good

Posted by: Jonathan Marshall

When it comes to the next generation of Smart Grid technology, smart meters and customer-oriented devices like Home Area Networks and electric vehicle charging units have all the sex appeal. Energy storage technology attracts its share of geeks as well.

But according to a new report from Pike Research, smart meters "are really just the tip of the iceberg," in the words of Clint Wheelock, the market research firm's managing director. ""Our analysis shows that utilities will . . . devote the majority of their capital budgets to grid infrastructure projects including transmission upgrades, substation automation, and distribution automation."

The new study forecasts that global spending on Smart Grid technologies will total a hefty $200 billion from 2008 to 2015. Investments in advanced metering infrastructure, however, will amount to just 14 percent of that sum. Management of electric vehicles will capture a mere 2 percent over the same period.

In contrast, unglamorous grid automation initiatives will account for 84 percent of Smart Grid investments worldwide through 2015.

While PG&E hasn't announced projected Smart Grid spending plans over that period, it believes in laying the foundation for a smarter grid through transmission and distribution system automation. This fall, the utility won funding from the Department of Energy for a major Smart Grid project to monitor its transmission grid in conjunction with the Western Electricity Coordinating Council.

And in 2008, the utility proposed a multi-year program to upgrade the reliability of its electrical system. Called the Cornerstone Improvement Program, the proposal included significant investments in PG&E's distribution system to help "fully achieve the benefits of a Smart Grid."

If the program is approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, the utility hopes to install automated systems for "Fault Location, Isolation and Service Restoration" (FLISR), which can slash the duration of customer outages from an hour or more to a matter of only a few minutes.

By automating about 1,200 circuits in urban and suburban areas, PG&E projects that the average annual duration of customer outages systemwide could be cut 19 percent, and the frequency by 23 percent. (The full Cornerstone program aims to reduce those statistics by 25 and 33 percent, respectively.)

That may not be as sexy as programming your dishwasher to run only when electricity prices fall below a certain level. But it's a great example of how a smarter grid may keep electricity flowing reliably to your dishwasher, and all your other appliances, around the clock.

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