SmartGridNews.com

Smart grid China: Latest 5-year plan shows why China is pulling ahead

Fri, 25 May 2012 13:23:22 PST

China has consistently embraced an aggressive and all-encompassing smart grid, and the recent unveiling of its 12th Five Year Plan shows clearly why the country is pulling away from the pack.

Help! How do we do customer analytics right?

Fri, 25 May 2012 13:13:46 PST

In addition to numerous other challenges utility decision makers need to address, they also have to contend with evaluating strategies for customer-focused analytics - not to mention how to do it, when, where and if. A new report from IDC Energy Insights offers clear guidance on where to start and how to get through the process.

FRIDAY FILES 5.25 - featuring energy news you can use right now

Fri, 25 May 2012 13:02:35 PST

Venture capital pitch tournament will focus on cleantech... Navy creates online multiplayer energy war game - no uniforms required... Siemens' 'Living Energy' - now there's an app for that... the ZigBee 500... and finally, how to vote for your favorite Green Button app.

Smart grid careers: Private industry poaching utility workers

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:38:04 PST

A story out of Florida illustrates a trend occurring across the country. Lakeland Electric, with roughly 120,000 customers, has been forced to turn to an expensive outside consultant to manage its smart metering project. The reason? Their internal employee was hired away by private industry at twice his original salary.

Too much solar? California legislator wants hard look at net metering

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:28:25 PST

In California's investor-owned utilities, solar customers who take advantage of net metering don't contribute toward grid maintenance or assisting low-income customers. Is that fair to other ratepayers? A state assemblyman wants a study to analyze net metering costs and benefits - and as you might expect, it's raised the ire of some consumer advocates.

How KCP&L uses behavioral science (and a web portal) to improve consumer engagement

Thu, 24 May 2012 14:25:53 PST

Over the past few years, we've heard a lot about the consumer engagement mistakes made by a few pioneering utilities. Yet as time goes on, more and more utilities are figuring out how to do it right. One of the keys, it turns out, is to apply behavioral science to the problem.

What smart grid slowdown? FP&L charges forward with massive upgrades

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:52:54 PST

Friends on the supplier side tell us the smart grid market has seen a slowdown, especially in large, multi-million-dollar projects. Apparently Florida Power & Light didn't get the memo. It just launched a $15.6 billion, five-year capital expenditure program. They aren't the only utility spending money, either.

Scotland sets smart grid themes: integrating renewables and growing an export industry

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:24:49 PST

Scotland thinks quite a lot of its talents and abilities in smart grid technologies, so much so apparently that the country's new Smart Grid Sector Strategy includes plans to match electricity supply with demand on a large scale - and export its smart grid know how.

High demand for water = high demand for smart water meters

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:15:27 PST

The demand for water is growing at an ever-increasing rate throughout the world, forcing utilities to come up with the best ways possible to manage it. According to a new report from Pike Research, that demand means smart water meter deployments are expected to take a huge leap within just a few years.

Smart grid coming of age? Oh yeah

Thu, 24 May 2012 12:04:29 PST

We had an email the other day from someone looking for ways to justify smart grid technology against charges it is still a young and unproven concept. Really? Recent announcements from Silver Spring Networks, PG&E and others certainly tell a different story. Click for details.

Move over ABB, GE, Schneider, Siemens. Eaton acquisition creates a fifth giant

Wed, 23 May 2012 13:09:38 PST

Power management company Eaton wants to buy Cooper Industries in a move that seems to be adding even more momentum to the smart grid's consolidation phase. We can't help wondering if the proposed merger will really benefit both companies - and we'll tell you why inside.

EV battery swapping: Better Place opens its first public switching stations

Wed, 23 May 2012 12:59:03 PST

Better Place opened its first publicly available battery switching stations where EV drivers can swap out an exhausted battery pack for a fully-charged one – and it's on the verge of expanding its network into Denmark and Australia. Click for details and a quick poll on swapping vs. charging.

Smart Grid Events and Smart Grid Conferences

Wed, 23 May 2012 12:30:45 PST

Industry events and conferences can help you stay on top of industry trends and technologies and make important contacts. Our calendar is loaded with upcoming events, with links for further details. And be sure to jump to page 2, where you can see the conferences Smart Grid News Chief Analyst Jesse Berst will be attending.

Apps for Energy winners revealed: Will they make the Green Button irresistible?

Wed, 23 May 2012 11:52:40 PST

A couple of Seattle developers won the best overall app grand prize in the Department of Energy's Apps for Energy challenge designed to help consumers utilize Green Button data to save money by saving energy. Learn more about all of the first-round winners – and what's next in the competition.

Smart grid policy: Could utilities face climate legislation after all?

Wed, 23 May 2012 10:09:09 PST

Just as utilities are beginning to get a handle on the new EPA rules and the impacts of ultra-cheap natural gas, proposed new legislation in the U.S. Senate could add more uncertainty – and put much of the burden of reducing greenhouse gases onto the shoulders of electric power utilities.

WSJ: Time for government to give utilities a hand on cybersecurity

Tue, 22 May 2012 12:15:36 PST

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act from the House of Representatives may be fairer to utilities than the White House-backed alternative in the Senate, according to an editorial in the Wall Street Journal. See if you agree.

S&C Electric adds to its bag of smart grid technologies

Tue, 22 May 2012 12:06:26 PST

S&C Electric is the ultimate "fly-beneath-the-radar" engineering-first company. In its typical understated fashion, the Chicago-based, employee-owned firm is quietly amassing a strong portfolio of smart grid technologies. Its latest partnership with Cambium Networks is a case in point.

If you could design your own smart grid demo, what would it look like?

Tue, 22 May 2012 11:47:27 PST

Three new demonstration projects caught our attention - a smart grid effort in Albuquerque's business district, a rapid recovery transformer study in Texas and a trial involving low voltage current sensor technologies in the UK. They also got us to thinking: At this stage in the smart grid build out, if you could design a demonstration project, what would it entail? That's our latest Tuesday Topic; click for the details.

Upcoming SGN webinars

Tue, 22 May 2012 11:30:52 PST

Smart Grid News hosts free "Lessons from the Real World" webinars on topics important to the utility industry. We bring in top experts from the field to provide insight and tips. Click to see our current webinar schedule and registration details.

Many smart grid roadmaps tell only part of the story

Mon, 21 May 2012 08:29:02 PST

By not looking beyond the electricity sector, many of the smart grid roadmaps being created today are prematurely limiting a broader discussion of the integration of smart grids with other resource, infrastructure and commodity systems in the future. Click for more on this from University of Waterloo Professor Ian Rowlands.