Big data—that is, a database that is too large to be managed through traditional data management applications—is growing rapidly. As new automated technologies develop, the amount of information available to utilities in particular is set to experience explosive growth. One key trend driving this growth for utilities is smart grids. The Growth of Grid Data […]
Californians love their cars and have a reputation for being environmentally conscious, so it is no surprise that the state leads the nation in green vehicle purchases. According to the Detroit News, roughly 50,000 electric vehicles (EVs) were sold in the U.S. in 2012. California accounted for just under one-third of those sales. In 2013, […]
In January this year, U.S. utilities trade group Edison Electric Institute (EEI) published a report on the precarious state of the U.S. electric power industry that subsequently launched a spate of doomsday articles such as “Electricity Utilities Must Evolve or Die: Are They Up to the Task?” and “Why the U.S. Power Grid’s Days are […]
In the last five years that the smart grid has gained traction in public conversation, the most significant features of the smart grid as we know it have also been the most contentious: real-time monitoring and potential control of power consumption by way of information and communications technology, such as smart meters. Whether it’s a […]
Last week I attended Distributech 2011 in San Diego. What I came away with was the sense that we are well on the way to sorting out the many operational complexities associated with installing and connecting millions of smart meters across the country. Demand response, time of use billing, outage management and ways of tying in renewables are all well on their way to becoming entrenched as standard operational functions. So what is the next stage in the development of the Smart Grid?