Electricity Is Getting Smart
Soon, we’ll be able to control our electric bills the way we control our grocery bills — making informed choices before we “spend” by using coupons (electric company rebates) and taking advantage of “limited-time sales” (running the dishwasher during non-peak demand periods.) The result will be a new electricity system that makes us more environmentally conscious by using renewable energy sources (wind and solar), reducing our carbon footprint, and giving us lower electric bills. For once, we’ll be in charge of our own electric bills — knowing how much it will cost to charge our cell phones before we plug it in.
AEP is busy installing new systems that will effectively pull our homes out of our outdated model of inefficient energy-draining consumption modes, into an environmentally-conscious infrastructure that addresses the issues of global warming, limited resources, while decreasing your home’s electric bill. (How inefficient are you? Measure your family’s own Carbon Footprint here.)
AEP launched an initiative called gridSMART® in 2007, with Silver Spring Networks with the initial gridSMART pilot starting in 2009 in South Bend, Ind. (Check out this video here.) The grid will soon arrive to a neighborhood near you, as a natural upgrade to AEP’s aging infrastructure to 20th century power grids. The GridSmrt will “broadcast” power from a few central power generators to a large number of users, so that the power can be “routed” in efficient ways to respond to a very wide range of conditions, including peak demand periods. The result will allow you to monitor your own energy consumption so that you can take advantage of price savings during low-demand periods. For example, during the summer, customers who volunteered allowed AEP to raise the temperature in their homes using a programmable, communicating thermostat. AEP will offer consumers the option to receive a rebate in return for allowing AEP to send set back signals to a Programmable Communicating Thermostat during peak load conditions.
And for the environment, the smart grid will allow electric companies to use use renewable energy sources, like wind and solar, while reducing the need to build more fossil-fueled power plants.
A smart grid is made possible by applying sensing, measurement and control devices on our appliances, furnaces and air-conditioners with smart meters. They read information about grid conditions to system users, operators and automated devices, making it possible to dynamically respond to changes in the grid.
A smart grid includes an intelligent monitoring system that keeps track of all electricity flowing in the system. It also has the capability of integrating renewable electricity such as solar and wind. When power is least expensive the user can allow the smart grid to turn on selected home appliances such as washing machines or factory processes that can run at arbitrary hours. At peak times it could turn off selected appliances to reduce demand.
Soon, we’ll be able to receive alerts via text, email, and telephone call as you move through the energy tiers towards higher costs for electricity. Plus, in the event of the a power outage, the utility company will know immediately — no need to call in to report the problem.
“I wrote this post after attending an informational luncheon on behalf of Silver Spring Networks and Mom Central Consulting and received a gift bag and gift card as a thank you for taking the time to participate.”