Popularising energy efficiency

In the US where Smart Grid initiatives are fast being deployed, more than half of the consumers surveyed (54%) by Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative (SGCC) had never heard the term ‘smart grid!’ But many firms are looking at ways to make energy efficiency as popular as the Facebook!

According to SGCC’s 2013 “State of the Consumer Report” “Billions of dollars are being invested in new technologies that are little understood by the people who are supposed to benefit and who are paying the bills.” The good news is that people like the concept once they learn about it. Among those familiar with the term, only 13 percent perceive it in negative way, according to the SGCC survey.

Meanwhile, another survey found that two-thirds (62 percent) of those it surveyed spend less than 10 minutes per month reviewing their energy usage or bill. To put this in perspective, the average American spends 100 times longer each day on Facebook than on checking out their energy bill! Can Smart power be made as popular as the FB? Some think so.

SGCC has been at work for some time defining who we are as energy consumers. The organization has segmented the American consumer based on our attitudes, values, behaviors, motivations, lifestyles, technology know-how and other characteristics. SGCC then helps utilities tailor their marketing to each segment. Some groups respond to messages about saving money and energy, others environmental concern and global warming.

For example, those who SGCC calls “Do-it-yourself and save” types are likely to show interest in programmable thermostats that require some planning on their part. And “Easy Streets,” wealthy individuals reluctant to change their behavior, might respond to marketing materials pitching automated thermostats of the “set and forget” variety.

A new one-stop ‘residential customer engagement solution’, which is a software and services product helps utilities reduce energy use by making householders more energy aware. Others, too, are pushing the idea of centralizing home energy management. Honeywell rolled out an energy management platform this week that combines Wi-Fi thermostats and a management software with interactive, cloud-based application. Homeowners are able to view and adjust energy use from anywhere using a smartphone or computer.

Utility spending on energy efficiency will double by 2025 to about $9.5 billion per year, according to a recent study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. That means substantial energy savings – and a lot of new ideas and technology for the consumer to master.

Keeping up with the Joneses!

Today it is all about data and more data for any good job that needs to be done. So smart meters should be the next big thing in the world of smart power. Because it gives you data and data. But is the data what counts or something else, like behavior science?!

In the US there are growing number of so-called electricity consumer engagement companies that set out to help customers reduce their electricity use, primarily by analyzing their current consumption and finding the easy fixes. These companies are mixing in data from the rapid deployment of smart meters with behavioral science to try and answer a key question: How can we get people to care? The central idea is that by showing people how much electricity they use, when they use it, they can be driven to change. In the process, these companies have found that more important than providing details of how to save power and when to use gadgets, is to show what the neighbors and peers are using or saving!

“The buzzwords around the utility industry today, it’s all about consumer engagement,” says Dean Chuang, a senior research analyst. Studies have suggested that a big chunk of energy — as much as 20 percent — that enters a house ends up wasted. The companies involved in these new efforts say customers who pay attention to their data and use their software products save from one to ten percent on their electricity bills.

The U.S. government has gotten on board, with the launch in early 2012 of the Green Button initiative from the Department of Energy. Utilities that sign on to Green Button provide a simple way for customers to download personalized energy usage data from the utility web site. The first two waves of utility partners will cover 27 million customers, with more on the way. When utilities around the country partner with these consumer engagement firms they can send consumers home energy use reports or audits that give a far clearer picture than a standard bill. These home energy reports can compare usage amounts to other households nearby and, if smart meters have been deployed in a given area, can offer detailed opportunities for improvement — when to use appliances, better control of thermostats, and so on.

Smart appliances can also connect to these systems and allow, say, a dishwasher to run at 3 a.m., when power demand and prices are low. But people using such data are miniscule. Most are energy unaware. And the big culprit for that are subsidized rates for power. Unless the price begins to pinch, will any amount of smart information help change consumption patterns?

Wanted: a new law

The world population is expected to soar to more than 9 billion people by 2050. Roughly 70% of the global population will live in cities, which today consumes 70% of global energy supplies. An interesting symposium in the US threw up some interesting options for Energy Collective. Can planners identify potential relationships between systems and/or networks and design solutions that leverage these synergies? These approaches encourage creative use and reuse of resources for multiple purposes instead of single-use applications. Decision-making and time will have to be viewed differently. Data analytics give us the opportunity to time-shift decisions. In the Smart Grid world, we recognize that energy storage allows us to “time-shift” generation. We can also time-shift electricity consumption through demand response and dynamic pricing programs that encourage or reward use at off-peak times. A smart city working with data to predict traffic patterns could enable automated and realtime traffic congestion management. And the most insightful information derived from analytics is worthless if humans fail to take action on that information. How about a new law that helps us frame expectations around data? Data can be created by machines or by humans. Data will travel across networks to destinations, and may be transformed (anonymized), analyzed (correlated with other data), or stored in multiple locations. The author notes how Moore’s Law deals with processing power (approximately doubles every 24 months) and Metcalfe’s Law that the value of a network grows as the square of the number of users grows. And goes on to ask if a similar law that frames our expectations about data volumes and the privacy and security of that data, can help. Any thoughts?

Will this be a Smart year?

This will be a year of the smart grid, or perhaps make or break year, as experts put it.

But the immediate criteria of smart grid success will be perceived benefits from advanced metering (AMI) and phasor measurement units (PMUs)--devices that precisely measure variations in voltage and current permitting their synchronization in real time.

In the US and now in the UK, there is some amount of resistance to smart meters, largely over the cost. While they radically reduce meter reading costs for the utilities, their introduction has meant rising bills only for consumers.

For success, the Advanced Metering Infrastructure will have to start yielding lower energy costs. Smart meters will have to produce their full range of expected benefits, which can be said to include demand response (enabling customers to modify electricity usage in reaction to hourly price changes), faster and more efficient service (including automated reporting of emergencies, and greater system reliability (because utilities will be getting real-time feedback from every customer's meter). They will be seen as a disappointment, according to a grid expert, if all they produce is less expensive meter reading for utilities.

As thousands of PMUs are being deployed on transmission lines to report voltage deviations in real time to utilities, significantly greater system reliability should result. If we don't start seeing measurable improvements in system reliability soon, they too will be a disappointment.

In the longer run the smart grid should involve much more than just AMI and PMU: integration of two-way communications throughout distribution systems, a more renewable-friendly grid, power systems that in their totality are much more efficient, lower carbon emissions, etc.

Smart grid and the hacker

Smart is the way for grids to go in future. It seems to be the inevitable way ahead given the route charted by technology. A smart grid will tell the consumer when best to switch on, also how much he has consumed already, and it will also tell the utility who and where the power is being consumed.

Fine. Sounds great. Has all the elements to get consumers to start tightening energy budgets. of course, there is some doubt about that, given the Jevons paradox which indicates that energy saved in one mode would end up more than consumed in some other usage.

But, that aside, smart grid seems to be the panacea of a time when theft and wastage rule the roost. Again, a new note of dissent has crept in. What about the hackers? What happens if they hack into the system? Who will tackel the chaos?

A year ago, an unidentified computer intruder tried to penetrate the US Lower Colorado River Authority's power generation network with 4,800 high-speed log-in attempts that originated at an Internet address in China, according to a grid official's confidential memo that was leaked to the media.

The smart grid increases the complexity of the system. There is more technology, and more networks highly interconnected to share information. You've increased the overall attack surface. You're deploying technology that is no longer in a building you control, and you are deploying it over the air, right up to the home.

When the technology is deployed at such a grand scale, it's a real challenge to manage and maintain security. The smart grid will make technology management a core part of what any utility is.

What is the confidence we have that our technology will not end up creating more troubles than solutions? Any ideas?

Smart is not enough

The campaign to conserve electricity in the home needs to pay more attention to consumers and not just fix on the gee-whiz technology of smart meters, a US energy conservation advocacy organization says.

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) released a report summarizing 57 pilot tests of household energy conservation strategies in this country and abroad, finding that annual electricity savings ranged from 4 to 12 percent.

The good news from the tests is that consumers can trim their electricity consumption significantly, but smart meters alone can’t do that. A good amount of consumer eduation is required.

To realize the potential savings in household electricity use, consumers must be provided a range of "positive reinforcement" through up-to-the-minute feedback showing them that their conservation efforts matter, the center said.

Many utilities are deploying smart meters for their own business purposes, ACEEE concludes while programs to enlist consumer support are lagging. The devices eliminate the need for meter readers, permit remote customer connections and disconnects, and speed restoration of service after storms.

The ACEE report does not give similar weight to proposals for real-time or time-of-use pricing -- controversial policies that would permit utilities to vary their electricity rates during the day based on the costs they pay for wholesale power. Some leading analysts argue that unless consumers see, and pay for, the true cost of power when demand peaks, they won't have the financial motivation to turn off appliances or shift thermostat settings to when prices fall.

But the center believes financial benefits may not be the right focus as much as appealing to people's sense of responsibility as energy consumers. Well, it depends on which part of the world you are living in! And yes, finally how aware the people are of the energy crisis.

To go smart or wait?

Smart is the way to be, and India is not going to lag behind. The government is in the process of setting up the “India Smart Grid Task Force” which will be chaired by Sam Pitroda, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation.

The task force will be an Inter-Ministerial Group and will serve as a focal point for activities related to the Smart Grid and will lay a roadmap for development of Smart Grid in India aided by the most modern and latest technologies in the field.

The Stake Holders Ministry of Power (MoP) will be the Patron of the Forum and PFC, REC will be permanent invitees and members. Initially the Forum will be open by invitation to selected state power utilities, private power utilities, power sector PSUs, empanelled System Integrators, SCADA Consultants and Implementing Agencies of R-APDRP, selected educational and research institutes, NGOs, CEA, CERC, CPRI, FICCI and NASSCOM.

Smart grids are digitally enhanced power systems that use modern communication and control technologies efficiently. Apart from providing choices to the consumer and motivating them to participate in the operations of the grid, causing energy efficiency and accommodating all generation and storage options, Smart Grid also envisages various properties for the Grid like self-healing and adaptive islanding. This all will enable electricity markets to flourish.

In the west there are as many success stories of smart grids as failures. Failures have been where having a smart meter did not encourage efficient use of power, as also worries over the cost of gadgets. This is going to be all the more pertinent in a developing nation where ordinary meters are wont to be stolen.

Should India be getting into the smart business now or first tackle issues like power theft, etc?

Time to hop on to the smart wagon

The smart grid industry in the US has almost 4 billion dollars invested in stimulus funds. A lot of attention has been focussed on upgradation of the decades old power grid there. But smart grids will cost money. Can developing nations afford a fancy? According to experts, rapid economic growth requires smart grids but there are also some other reasons in this segment.

China is predicted to be one of the hottest smart grid markets in the coming years given its energy needs are expected to double in 10 years, and the country’s dominant power distribution company, State Grid Corp., has a goal of building out a smart grid by 2020. Indian utilities are still looking at pilot projects and the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) is working on a smart grid pilot project.

According to research from the Bangalore-based nonprofit Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), there are five reasons why developing countries need, and want, smart grids: stop power theft (by simple power accounting), power quality (often poor) that can be improved through grid load balancing, a chance to leapfrog to smart grids in places where the grid is non-existent, while the cost can be offset by taking on new consumers! Not to forget how a smart grid will help with renewable energy.

Agree? Do you think developing nations can bear the costs? Considering how in parts of the US, smart meters have no takers, given their costs! Or is there some way of financing the cost?

The next revolution?

Could the ‘inter-grid’ be the next revolution? If you are wondering what exactly this is, it is a coinage of renowned economist and social critic Jeremy Rifkin, and what he sees as the Third Industrial Revolution.

Just like the digital media and the Internet has made it easy to share information, he sees a time not too far away, when the world will be distributing energy peer-to-peer! Every person who consumes energy will also be contributing to its generation and distribution. The mammoth buildings we live in will be an active participant in this scheme. Every possible source of energy from the sun to the ocean to the wind will be harnessed and distributed, and stored. The first inter-grids will be up this year in Houston, Bouldor Colorado and Southern California.

The microgrid local generation concept alongwith economic regionalization will see a new and better socio-economic world order, Rifkin believes.

At a time when the centralized power supply system is struggling to meet the demand, localized distributed systems make perfect sense. The microgrid concept is simple. It makes buying and installing a wind or solar power generating unit as simple as any other gadget at home.

Initially a bit costly, it generates all the electricity your home needs and pays for itself in just a few years.

Your home still connects to the existing wires and power plants, but it is a two-way connection. You're just as likely to be uploading power to the grid as downloading from it. So you end up getting paid for the energy you generate at home. That goes for office buildings and others.

What do you think? Is this the ideal way to meet the energy challenge?

Smart island

The island nation of Malta, halfway between the coasts of Sicily and North Africa, will soon be the first smart grid island with IBM on the job with the utilities. Using 250,000 smart meters that will enable the national utilities and their customers to better manage energy and water use, the network is expected to be completed by 2012.

Malta is tiny, with less than 400,000 people but the experiment will show if smart grid will be accepted. When operational the network will allow the electric and water utilities to monitor remotely and manage in real time. Users can track energy use and adjust it to the time when the pricing is low. Meanwhile, Xcel Energy is working on its vision to make Boulder, Colo. the first fully integrated Smart Grid City in the US.

Is the smart grid an effective option or a costly one? While the need for optimizing energy usage cannot be denied, how much will implementation cost? With all the sensors, meters, routers and switches to be incorporated at many levels, can someone tell us how feasible this is for a developing nation? Has a cost benefit study been done?

Imagine

Imagine an Asian electricity grid anchored by China at one end and Australia on the other. The grid would carry and distribute hemispheric solar, geothermal, wind and wave energy, picked on the way.

The 10,000-kilometer long electricity transmission system stretching from Beijing to the Great Australian Bight would harness Australian concentrating solar power, geothermal, wind and wave energy and carry these northward to where the demand is. Geothermal power of Indonesia's volcanoes, wind farms in China will add their mite.

The writer suggests that Southeast Asian natural gas and Laotian and Vietnamese hydro power plants could provide 'load balancing’. Even China's Three Gorges Dam might find a role as hemispheric provider of peaking power. It goes on to suggest ways in which every region could contribute.

Grandiose plans with ambitious objectives. Eventually we can imagine a grid connecting the whole planet. But will it succeed? Even within a nation, linking the many regional grids face a lot of technical and political hurdles. Can an international grid work? For instance the same group proposing this has also drawn up plans for generating CSP in Africa and transmitting it to Europe.

Are these feasible? Smart grid deployment may be able to address the technical issues but not the socio-economic ones. Whether it be climate change or energy, nations are more caught up in guarding their interests. Will such sharing work? What do you think? Or will we first need to work towards the beautiful vision Lennon had, when penning Imagine.

Vehicle to grid

The University of Delaware recently demonstrated how an electric plug-in vehicle can be used to store power and provide it to the electric grid when needed. Vehicle to grid technology.

Grid reliability is something many see as threatened as renewable sources get mapped in. This is because of the variable nature of the ‘infirm’ energy they provide, dependent on natural conditions.

With incorporation of renewable energy like wind and solar, there is a need for storage facility. These help smooth power output fluctuations. At present batteries that store solar energy are bulky and take up large space.

By using electric vehicles with their batteries as a storage option, utilities can store wind energy, which often peaks at night, and draw the power when the car is not in use. Taking into account a fleet of such cars, the storage potential becomes huge. This is what the Delaware team plans. Right now, a single car can power 7-8 homes when charged for 30 minutes!

The more EVs you have, the better is your ability to ensure a smooth grid flow of power. But when one looks at where the power comes to run your EV, then it is a problem to advocate too many.

Generally, electricity comes from two basic types of power plants: the efficient base load plants that need to run at a steady pace, and the less efficient peaking plants, which supply bursts of power when needed, but produce more nitrogen oxides. When not sure of demand, operators shut down base load plants and use the 'dirtier' peaking power plants.

That is where plug-in EVs can help. There will be no need to shut down base load plants because the demand will be there, thanks to the EVs.

Going a step ahead, will be EVs running on solar PVs, whose power can be collectively harnessed by the grid from the parking lot. A further step is where individual homes harnessing renewable energy also supplying excess into the grid. This has been tried out in some cities in the US already.

So it all boils down to using available equipment that have storage capabilities! No more is it running one way but a story of give and take.

What do you think? Can we look at these options seriously?

Customer makes the choice

Things are looking up in the US for renewable energy, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The agency just released “Electric Power Industry 2007: Year in Review,” and for the first time, renewables (not including hydro-electric power) led the way in new electric generation capacity in the U.S.

Wind accounted for more than half of the new added capacity.

However, carbon dioxide emissions by electric generators and combined heat and power facilities increased by 2.3 percent in 2007, to 2.52 billion metric tons, up from 2.460 billion. That reverses a decline in CO2 emissions reported for 2006.

But the EIA report isn’t all about utility-scale power. The report also talks about some new experiments like homes feeding small scale renewable energy into the grid. With net metering, people get paid for electricity they feed into the grid. In the US during last year, there were over 40,000 people taking part in this experiment. In yet another ‘green pricing program’ users, both residential and industrial, bought green power from their utility.

Isn’t that a good way of encouraging green power? But if the prices are costlier than regular grid power, how many ‘conscientious’ buyers will the scheme see in a price conscious place? Maybe tagging along an incentive will help? Anyone out there with customer experiences care to tell us what you think?

Let's be smart

Nokia has just announced it is developing a smart home platform to offer consumers new ways to control their homes with a mobile device. The platform is opening a new era for networked home services and solutions.

All solutions based on the platform can be used through a smart phone or PC locally or remotely. Consumers can monitor and control their electricity usage, switch devices on and off, and monitor different objects, such as temperature, camera, and motion. In a second step, Nokia and RWE are planning additional services in connection with smart meters beyond 2009. These services will provide consumers with real-time information about their energy consumption and allow them to control their energy bill remotely.

Meanwhile, the UK and Europe recognise the need to modernise and liberalise an ageing electricity grid, create economies of scale for renewable energy and promote consumer efficiency. All this would require a smart grid, smart meters. As energy demand goes up and supply falls woefully behind, smart metering is expected to revolutionise energy management and grid reliability across the globe.

A recent study suggests that meters are capable of delivering a 10 per cent cut in annual energy use. Another estimates that dynamic demand-side response in the EU could save electricity equivalent to the domestic consumption of Germany and Spain.

A flexible and dynamic grid is the need of the hour.

The article goes on to note that smart metering alone will not bring a 20 per cent increase in energy efficiency, a 20 per cent increase in renewable energy or a 20 per cent reduction in carbon emissions. But none of these targets are possible without a functional smart grid underpinned by smart meter infrastructure.

Smart metering allows the consumer to know in real time the power consumed from every gadget within his home. With a time of the day billing system, he/she will know when best to do the chores at home.

Going one step ahead is the smart grid. Smart grids will allow two-way communication between homes and utilities and the ability to remotely control appliances and power consumption, which leads to accurate real-time pricing by utilities, and accurate monitoring and conservation. Utilities can send response demands to homes during peak hours, homeowner energy use habits can be tracked and adjusted, etc.

An ageing gridline can be vitalised by smart meters, networking software and hardware, energy storage, etc. IBM, Google, and many other players have entered the field, seeing an opportunity. Reducing losses, increasing efficiency from generation, distribution to end-use will be aided by smart technology.

The concept is just catching wide attention in the west. But given that we have the technical IT prowess, any reason why we cannot be a leader? The initial costs are going to be high but eventually it will bring in savings.