The Smart Grid is Way More than Smart Meters
You should take a look at Dick Tabors’ excellent point of view on the Smart Grid at http://www.smartgridnews.com/artman/publish/commentary/Three_Pillars_of_the_Smart_Grid-636.html
There are so many grand objectives for the Smart Grid that are nowhere near attainable because they require profound institutional and regulatory changes in the industry. Further, they require an entirely unreasonable level of expertise and involvement by the individual consumer. Dick’s essential three pillars are not yet in place, but they will be someday. In the meantime, the Smart Grid can be advanced through logical extensions of three existing pillars of distributing automation: (1) sensors / controllers (SCADA, AMR, AVL, etc.), (2) two-way digital TCP/IP communications, and (3) decision software (ERP, OMS, GIS) that will move the industry closer to active distribution grid management. That is, move the planning and operation of the grid toward predictive anticipation and management rather than reactive monitoring and recovery. This will make it more likely that the industry can be ready to build successfully on the three pillars that Dr. Tabors identifies.
Written by Steve Collier | Jul 29, 2009