The Smart Grid: Deploying at the Speed of Value

Sponsored by

The smart grid is like a Rubik's cube — everything works together or it all falls apart

Written by Dennis Wamsted

A Rubik's cube — everything works together or it all falls apart: That was the description of the smart grid offered up by Becky Blalock, senior vice president and chief information officer at Southern Company, in kicking off Thursday's 8:30 am panel, The Smart Grid: Deploying at the Speed of Value.

The Smart Grid involves advanced controls, sensors, and other technologies, linked with an advanced communication network in order to provide a new level of control and consumer response. The concern is that, due to the numerous paths to the smart grid, the use of novel and emerging technologies and rate designs, and the size of the investments, the smart grid may actually deploy at "the speed of regulation."

One of the key players in putting this Rubik's cube together is George Arnold, the coordinator for smart grid interoperability at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Having been through a similar transition in the telecommunications industry, Arnold was optimistic. "This is doable," he told the audience.

NIST and the rest of the industry are working hard to make this a reality, Arnold continued, pointing out that some 70 issues already have been identified where standards either don't exist at all or there are gaps between standards that need to be closed to ensure the future smart grid works.

Acknowledging the current state of affairs — where utilities are rushing to install and upgrade their systems with new smarter meters and other tools — Arnold said NIST hoped within the coming 60 days to release an "upgradeability" standard to ensure that what utilities are doing now will work in the years ahead.

Another key issue all the panelists agreed on was the central role that security must play in rollout of the smart grid.

Maintaining grid reliability and security are absolutely essential, Suedeen Kelly, a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, a co-chair of the Smart Grid Collaborative (which works with the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners) and an outspoken backer of the smart gird, told the panel. If that is done right, smart grid's upside is enormous; without it, the industry may be worse off than before.

Here, too, NIST's Arnold was optimistic. "We know how to do it [security], we just have to apply it thoughtfully."

One cautionary note was raised by Jim Greer, senior vice president of Oncor, the regulated delivery unit of Texas-based Energy Future Holdings (formerly TXU Corp.), who warned that many of its customers are still unsure of the benefits of the smart grid. Oncor and the rest of the industry are in the same position cell phone companies were in early on, he said, where people wondered why they needed to carry a phone around in their pockets. To many, a home phone seemed sufficient. Similarly, Greer added, he hears repeatedly from customers served by Oncor questioning the need for a new smart meter. It will be up to the industry to educate its customers about the benefits or risk losing support for its upgrade efforts, he concluded.