A smart grid is a transactive grid.
- Lynne Kiesling
Archive for September, 2009

A Smart Intergrid

Via Earth2Tech, detailed commentary by Bob Metcalfe on the possible evolution and development of what he terms a “smart intergrid”. While the idea is not wholly new, Grid Unlocked agrees with this direction but notes the technical feasibility of linking water, energy, gas, etc. grids together to be some time in the future.  That said, […]

Read more »



Expect An ‘Explosion’ of End-User Applications

Courtesy of The Energy Collective, an interesting summary of the four main themes of the recent GridWeek conference.  Coming in at #2 is a theme that we’ve been suggesting for some time now: “…2. Consumers – expect an explosion in the development of end-user applications for energy management as companies work to play “catch up” […]

Read more »



Secretary Chu And The ‘Importance Of The Consumer’

Via The Energy Collective, a report on the keynote speech by U.S. Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu at the International Smart Grid Summit.  As the article notes,  Secretary Chu emphasized smart grid as a key to enabling modernization of our electrical system, but we found the following comments to be most insightful as they […]

Read more »



Smart Grid Trends: Consumer Focused Software With Branding Power

Courtesy of Earth2Tech, a report on the trend of smart grid companies building or buying software that will manage energy consumption within the home.  As the article notes, consumers aren’t going to remember the name of the company that sells network software on the power grid, but software that a consumer uses every day could […]

Read more »



IBM: A ‘Smart Grid For Water’

Via CNET, a report on IBM’s initiatives related to a ‘smart grid for water.’  As the article notes: “…Even as billions of dollars are being spent around the world to modernize the electricity grid, the systems to delivery fresh water are also in desperate need of a 21st century upgrade. IBM is developing a portfolio […]

Read more »



Consumers’ Perspectives: The Smart Grid Is Actually About Benefits To Me, Money, and Control

The July/August 2009 edition of Intelligent Utility had several articles highlighting consumers’ thoughts on the smart grid and commercializing the intelligent utility, many of which echo our themes of the need for smart markets to motivate consumer engagement of a smart grid and smart meters.  For example, an article entitled “Smart Selling and The Intelligent […]

Read more »


  |  Next Page »
About This Blog And Its Authors
Grid Unlocked is powered by two eco-preneurs who analyze and reference articles, reports, and interviews that can help unlock the nascent, complex and expanding linkages between smart meters, smart grids, and above all: smart markets.

Based on decades of experience and interest in conservation, Monty Simus and Jamie Workman believe that a truly “smart” grid must be a “transactive” grid, unshackled from its current status as a so-called “natural monopoly.”

In short, an unlocked grid must adopt and harness the power of markets to incentivize individual users, linked to each other on a large scale, who change consumptive behavior in creative ways that drive efficiency and bring equity to use of the planet's finite and increasingly scarce resources.