Today's Top Stories
1. V2B increasingly attractive to manage energy costs
2. New metrics take smart grid beyond outreach and awareness
3. Smart grid awareness tied to energy security
4. WPD prepares grid infrastructure for low-carbon economy
5. Cost of complacency driving smart grid progress Editor's Corner: ComEd could bleed more money as a result of smart grid delays Also Noted: Spotlight On... ComEd creating smart grid jobs
Proper steps for upgrading a data center; new malware is harder to detect and much more... Lawsuit slams ComEd for smart meter delays
Commonwealth Edison Company's (ComEd) smart meter program has faced two years of regulatory and financing obstacles since its approval in 2011. The utility is now facing a class-action lawsuit in Illinois, alleging that it betrayed customer trust and violated regulatory agreements through collecting smart meter funding while delaying the program more than two years. Feature SDG&E: Changing the utility mentality
The Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative (SGCC) recently selected San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) as one of four utilities to appear as a smart grid success case study in its 2013 State of the Consumer Report. I recently discussed in more detail the specifics of the utility's approach with SDG&E's Director of Customer Programs and Projects Ted Reguly. On the Hot Seat US faces uphill battle in Asian energy market
The U.S. energy market is full of potential and growing daily. But Asia -- and China in particular -- looms even larger for U.S. energy companies interested in raising their businesses to the next level. But while the region is primed for expansion, U.S. companies face a number of challenges to tapping this new market. Feature News From Across the Energy Industry:
1. Progress Energy retiring coal plants
2. Utilities challenged by BEMS vendor learning curve
3. Water budget addresses critical infrastructure issues
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ComEd could bleed more money as a result of smart grid delays
ComEd is already losing an estimated $168 million in smart grid funding as a result of the $100 million annual reduction in funding by the Illinois Commerce Commission beginning in 2014. Now, the utility faces a class action lawsuit and a $182 million penalty for delays and costs associated with its smart meter rollout. The state's 2011 Smart Grid law, the Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act (EIMA), allowed ComEd to increase its rates annually for a price. The utility had to commit to investing $2.6 billion over the next 10 years to upgrade the local grid and install smart meters in its service territory, in addition to meeting higher standards of service for things such as power outage restoration. If ComEd failed to comply, it would incur penalties. However, the law failed to allow cost recovery on two other issues of key concern to ComEd (interest rate and rate base), resulting in a delay to the utility's smart meter rollout until 2015, claiming the issues "significantly impair" their ability to finance long-term investment programs. According to ComEd, more than $2.3 billion in customer savings and the creation of 2,000 full-time equivalent jobs will be delayed. ComEd is appealing the law on these issues, but is now embroiled in a lawsuit. Get the details here. -Barb Read more about: Smart Grid, ComEd
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Today's Top News 1. V2B increasingly attractive to manage energy costs
While vehicle-to-building (V2B) technology has been studied for the purpose of emergency backup power since the 1990s, it is garnering new attention as plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) sales climb and building managers and homeowners seek innovative ways to manage energy costs. In fact, nearly 200,000 PEVs equipped with V2B technology will be sold from 2012 through 2020, according to Navigant Research. V2B makes the energy stored in PEV batteries available to commercial and residential buildings, allowing vehicles can compete with both traditional local generation and stationary storage for offsetting demand charges or providing peak shaving services. "V2B technology can benefit both vehicle and building owners, by offsetting some of the cost of PEVs, by lowering the energy costs of the building, and by providing reliable emergency backup services," said John Gartner, research director, Navigant Research. "Numerous pilot projects around the world are developing and testing V2B technologies, most of them as part of larger microgrid and smart grid projects." Recent projects are becoming more ambitious in terms of the number of PEVs participating, but are still being implemented at a relatively small scale of hundreds, not yet thousands, of vehicles, according to the research. For more:
- see this article Related Articles:
Utilities called upon to promote EV adoption
Customers must drive EV adoption
Consumer misconceptions hinder EV use Read more about: V2B technology
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2. New metrics take smart grid beyond outreach and awareness
The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) have reached an agreement with ComEd and Ameren Illinois to move a $3.2 billion effort forward to track customer benefits from smart grid deployment plans in the state. As part of the effort, ComEd and Ameren worked with EDF and CUB to develop the metrics which will be used to determine how upgrades to Illinois' electric grid are delivering benefits to consumers and measure utility performance on issues ranging from reductions in peak energy demand and increased adoption of renewable energy to the use of smart energy devices and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. ComEd provided the initial reporting of 20 new tracking metrics in its annual smart grid deployment plan update filed earlier this month with the Illinois Commerce Commission. Other metrics focus on measures such as overall energy savings, utility-led efforts to conduct customer outreach and enrollment in energy conservation rebate programs. Ameren also provided its annual smart grid deployment plan update which noted that it will begin voluntarily reporting on a similar set of 19 new tracking mechanisms such as reliability, outage restoration, system safety, and satisfaction of customers with on-premise services. Thus far, utility smart grid and AMI metrics have commonly focused on general measures to gauge customer benefits, such as customer awareness survey completions and number of customer outreach events attended. The tracking mechanisms of ComEd and Ameren go further in that they will allow the utilities to track and report where customers are realizing the benefits of electric grid improvements and the extent to which they are participating in these opportunities. This includes measures like the number of customers who can directly access their own energy usage data and the time it takes to connect renewable energy resources to the grid. "These new tracking mechanisms and metrics will help ComEd and Ameren ensure that their smart grid investments deliver environmental and economic benefits to customers in the form of cleaner air and reduced energy costs. EDF hopes that these tracking mechanisms and metrics will serve as models for other utilities around the country looking to modernize their aging energy infrastructure and realize the full potential of a smart, "green" electric grid," said EDF senior regulatory attorney Raya Salter. For more:
- see this report Related Articles:
Smart grid delay to cost ComEd $100M annually
ComEd hopes SB 9 will get smart grid funding back on track
Illinois smart grid law passes another hurdle
Ameren celebrates smart grid victory, moves on to natural gas Read more about: Smart Grid, ComEd
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3. Smart grid awareness tied to energy security
According to new research from Zpryme, nearly 74 percent of adults in the U.S. are still not familiar with the concept of the smart grid. Zpyme concludes from evidence it has gathered that energy security concerns revolve around a nation's reliance on petroleum and strong energy-efficiency policies, so, to the extent that the smart grid can be aligned with energy security, the more likely the population will endorse the smart grid. However, because the U.S. has not had a recent or prolonged energy security threat, questions about energy security may not be as critical to today's consumers. Utilities such as Xcel Energy, Florida Power & Light, and Pacific Gas & Electric are, nonetheless, ramping up their community-wide education and outreach programs to educate their customers on the benefits of the smart grid, according to Jason Rodriguez, CEO and Rearch Director, Zpryme. For more:
- see this infographic Related Articles:
Smart grid customers are ready but not engaged
IEEE ISGT: Customers want better smart grid education
Seven strategies for smart grid consumer engagement Read more about: Smart Grid, energy security
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4. WPD prepares grid infrastructure for low-carbon economy
Western Power Distribution (WPD), a U.K.-based distribution network operation, is expecting changes in the way electricity flows, as consumers adopt low-carbon technologies like electric vehicles and heat pumps. With growing energy demand in Europe and the need to evolve generation from fossil fuels to clean technologies, the grid is becoming stretched beyond its limit. Oracle Utilities estimates that outages cost Europeans €150 billion and that a smart grid capable of reducing loss and improving efficiency would save the EU €52 billion. Driven by the Flexible Approaches to Low Carbon Optimised Networks (FALCON) project, a U.K. regulator-funded program that aims to improve the industry's understanding of infrastructure needs in a low-carbon environment, WPD is working with smart grid leaders to find the best ways to manage the network problems expected to arise from low-carbon technologies and generation. As part of these efforts, WPD has successfully deployed distribution line sensors as it transitions to a low-carbon future. The 50 hertz Tollgrade distribution line sensors provide WPD with real-time visibility into its distribution grid, allowing the network operator to improve reliability and optimize network planning. "Our distribution network is the backbone of how we deliver electricity to homes and businesses. Leveraging proven technologies…allow us to improve our real-time visibility of the distribution grid for the first time," said Ben Godfrey, Innovation and Low Carbon Networks Engineer at WPD. For more:
- see this article Related Article:
Sprint, Tollgrade provide smart grid benefits to utilities Read more about: Tollgrade, Western Power Distribution
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5. Cost of complacency driving smart grid progress
Utilities appear to be better informed about the cyberrisks posed to their grids and substations as a result of years of discussion among utilities, regulators, vendors and systems integrators. Despite this increased awareness, funding for smart grid industrial control systems (ICS) remains a challenge. According to Navigant Research, the market for smart grid ICS cybersecurity will reach $608 million in 2020, expanding at a relatively slow compound annual growth rate of 6.4 percent. Although the number of utilities engaging in cybersecurity consultations is increasing, legacy systems can lack basic information on device locations and modes of communicating with the network, making security assessments difficult. In such cases, even more work is necessary for the utility which must conduct a pre-assessment project to map the network. "Utilities' awareness of potential threats and risks to industrial control systems is growing, but utilities mainly view security as a method of limiting costs, and advances toward meaningful regulations remain weak," said Bob Lockhart, senior research analyst, Navigant Research. "Despite that discouraging overview, though, progress will be steady as the cost of complacency becomes more visible." For more:
- see this article Related Article:
Cyberthreats mounting pressure on utilities Read more about: cybersecurity, Smart Grid Industrial Control Systems
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Also Noted SPOTLIGHT ON... ComEd creating smart grid jobs ComEd has filed its Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act Annual Jobs Creation Report with the Illinois Commerce Commission. The report revels that the 2011 Smart Grid law created more than 2,400 full-time equivalent jobs in Illinois in 2012, including direct jobs at ComEd. Article Quick news from around the web: >What are the proper steps for upgrading a data center? Article
>New malware uses multiple techniques to avoid detection. Article
>The U.S. House Intelligence Committee is considering cyberintelligence amendments. Article
>Only 5 percent of U.S. adults plan to purchase a home energy management system this year. Article
>CenterPoint Energy is working with IBM to enhance its customers' experience. Article
>IEEE adds BPL smart grid standard to its repetoire. Article
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