A smart grid is a transactive grid.
- Lynne Kiesling
Author Archive

Smart Grids Without Transactive Technology and Transactive market Options Are Not Smart

Via The Knowledge Problem, an interesting speech given by Lynne Kiesling on the interplay of technological change and regulation, ranging from Schumpeterian disruptive innovation to the history of the electricity industry and its regulation to current smart grid issues. Some of the themes discussed with be familiar to frequent readers here — innovation makes monopolies […]

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Demise of The Dashboard

Courtesy of GigaOm, a new report on the demise of high end dashboards, prompted by Cisco’s recent decision to pull out of the market.  We’ve talked at length about our speculation as to why dashboards ultimately fail – the lack of consumer engagement or sustainable motivation – so won’t rehash it again here, but you […]

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Being Gamed: Making Behavior Change Fun…But Not Sustainable

We have reflected in earlier posts on the role that gamification may play in smart grid adoption.  We continue to believe that transactive smart grids (i.e. smart markets) will be the only viable long-term motivation to sustain consumer engagement with their water or energy information, but that has not stopped firms from trying.  Here are […]

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Should Personal Energy Consumption Data Be Monetized?

A lot has been written about the demise of Google’s PowerMeter and Microsoft’s Hohm (including several posts on this forum), however today, via The Smart Grid Library, I’d like to reflect on an interesting article on the importance of allowing individuals the opportunity to benefit from sharing their personal data: “…The recent announcements about the […]

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Google PowerMeter: Smothered by Utilities?

As discussed in an earlier post, there are a number of theories as to why the PowerMeter and Microsoft Hohm met their premature demise.  Among the most logical: 1. limited initial use; 2. early days for the market for home energy management; 3. over-ambitious long-term plan; and 4. opt-in, not opt-out (i.e. in this early […]

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Will Utilities Thrive as Trusted Advisors or Survive as Infrastructure?

A recent article in the Smart Grid library asked whether utilities will thrive as trusted advisors or survive as infrastructure?  I think this is a particularly interesting article as I have long wondered whether utilities will become the “banks” of the future, i.e. slow moving but necessary parts of the economy, or more like “Fidelities” […]

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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 believes 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.