DistribuTech 2009: One Live Wire
AMI, AMR, demand-response, MDM, HAN, interoperability, scalability…if one left DistribuTECH 2009 in San Diego with anything, it was a better understanding and appreciation of just how complex and intricate smart grid solutions can be—especially in today’s early stages.
A perfect illustration of this was the breakfast keynote, “The Smart Grid From A to Z: The Nation’s First Smart Grid City.” The brave moderator Teresa Hansen (Editor in Chief of Utility/ T&D Automation Engineering) handled no less than eight panelists with the skill of a rancher herding cattle. Companies like Xcel Energy, SmartSynch, and Gridpoint shared their work plugging in Boulder, Colorado with an AMI or advanced metering infrastructure. Of Boulder’s homes, 50 percent are now wirelessly equipped with automated meter reading (AMR).
Deals, deals, deals!
Perhaps because of the recent economic slowdown (and many canceled flights due to snow storms and ice) it seemed there were fewer people than normal at the event, but that only served to concentrate the quality of the crowd. The $4.5 billion for smart grid technology in the Federal Stimulus package had utility companies swarming the exhibit hall searching for how they would spend their 50 percent matching grants. Traditionally, utility companies are slow adopters of new technology, preferring to take a wait and see attitude. Spending on average has been approximately $1 billion on smart grid technology annually, but since the stimulus money must be spent before 2010, there was definitely an step-up in pace and a keen sense of “getting deals done” in the air.
Removed from the flurry of exhibitors, chatter in the conference halls focused more on the actual language of stimulus package. As of this writing, it denotes the $4.5 billion to be used only for technology that is based on IP languages and open networks. Silver Spring Networks (of which Al Gore is a board member) has been lobbying aggressively in congress for the adoption of this language.
But others in the industry such as Landis+Gyr and Elster, as well as a third of the utilities, say today’s vendors use technology with proprietary networks and such language could preclude a large number of promising companies from benefiting from the stimulus bill. The technology thus far has been based on proprietary networks, so change will come hard. However, a vote on the bill isn’t expected for a few more weeks, so experts say there’s still time to iron out this delicate phrasing.
It seems clear that smart grid technology has a strong future. Demand for electricity is only expected to rise and if we can bring some sensibility to just how we use electrical power, perhaps the better off we and the planet will be.
Tags: Conferences
