I spent the last week in January at DistribuTECH 2013 in San Diego. There were nearly 10,000 attendees at the annual conference and exhibition that focuses on the technologies being applied to distribution systems, but it also includes other areas such as transmission, water utilities, and power products. If you haven’t been, I would recommend you check it out next year (www.distributech.com). It is very well run, and includes a large exhibit hall, conference sessions, and educational courses. And the networking opportunities are outstanding.
I think it’s notable that we are now starting to see more reports of the Smart Grid projects that were partially funded with ARRA stimulus funds back in 2009 – 2010. This was true for quite a few of the presentations at DistribuTECH. It’s important for the industry that the benefits and lessons learned from these projects are communicated and discussed at length.
In the last year, some news media have reported isolated cases of dissatisfaction and concerns over AMI and smart grid. Often, AMI is associated one-to-one with smart grid in people’s minds, even though there are many aspects of smart grid that are not AMI-related. it is important that an unemotional, fact-based presentation and discussion of the results of projects be performed. The education of all the stakeholders, of the costs and benefits of smart grid projects, will enable an open evaluation of the investments that are made in smart grid.
Solid business cases are even more important, given the tough economic times that we are still experiencing. Electricity growth in the US has been negative three of the last four years. If the revenue of power delivery organizations is similarly reduced, one can bet that more scrutiny will be placed on investments of any kind. The application of many smart grid technologies is still relatively new, making it even more important that a continuous education effort take place.
Regulators are still supporting smart grid initiatives. In November 2012, NARUC (National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners) passed “EL-2/ERE-3 Resolution Supporting the Rapid Deployment of Voltage Optimization Technologies”, The resolution “…encourages State public service commissions to evaluate the energy efficiency and demand reduction opportunities that can be achieved with the deployment of Volt-Var Optimization (VVO) technologies and other electric utility grid modernization technologies and activities, and use of appropriate measurement and verification tools to ensure that such technologies provide the projected savings.” Volt-Var Optimization has a very strong business case, and it appears that this message has been increasingly communicated in the industry.
Now it is up to everyone working on Smart Grid projects to continue to communicate the benefits of projects that have been undertaken. Industry forums like DistribuTECH give everyone the opportunity to participate in detailed discussions along those lines.
