April 15, 2008

Reducing gridlock

Dr. Robert Peltier, PE, Editor-in-Chief

Smart vs. simple

Modernizing America’s existing grid would enhance service reliability, increase transmission capacity, and even make U.S. industry more productive. It is estimated that productivity losses caused by transmission constraints and other grid issues cost the U.S. economy over $100 billion a year. However, securing the funding for such a system remains a problem because spoiled retail ratepayers don’t see how it would benefit them.

Xcel Energy’s March announcement of its vision to make Boulder, Colorado, the nation’s first fully integrated “Smart Grid City” (www.xcelenergy.com/smartgrid) is a tangible start. Infrastructure upgrades expected to cost more than $100 million would include a real-time communications network for local metering of power, an optimizing substation with “smart” technologies, a system for integrating and dispatching distributed generation technologies such as plug-in hybrid vehicles and solar panels, and devices to fully automate in-home energy use and cut its cost by, for example, running appliances during off-peak hours.

I commend Xcel Energy for conceiving of Smart Grid City, which will no doubt become a reality within a few years. But I also wonder about the impact on system reliability—and retail rates—of this additional layer of complexity, which would extend the reach of the grid into homes and require user interaction. Never underestimate the power of human error, or Mother Nature’s ability to have the last word on human endeavors.