Via The Energy Collective, a look at how today’s utility grid is our next personal computer, and Smart Grid may be the next Internet: “Getting horizontal implies that today, something is vertical. So, what exactly does it mean to be vertical? Simply put, a “vertical” is the mechanism by which we focus segments of our […]
Read more »Via GigaOm, an interesting article on the impact on solar panels, wind turbines, etc. on utilities’ traditional business model. As the report notes: Will your local utility one day go the way of dinosaurs? Well, as more home and business owners install solar panels, wind turbines and other electricity and heat generating equipment, the roles […]
Read more »Via The San Francisco Chronicle, an interesting report on PG&E’s long-awaited SmartMeter opt-out plan designed to help quell growing protests over the new electricity and gas meters which PG&E is installing throughout Northern and Central California. Wouldn’t it have been easier (dare I say, smarter) to motivate consumers with a compelling (smart) market reason to […]
Read more »Via SmartMeters.com, a report encouraging utilities to investigate alternative revenue generation opportunities from their smart meter infrastructure. While enthusiastic proponents of innovation and markets, we are sanguine to this article’s premise. First, we believe smart markets primarily engage, reward, and motivate consumers – not utilities. Second, we encourage the development of alternative revenue streams, but […]
Read more »Courtesy of The Energy Collective, an interesting article on the role of consumers in smart grid deployments and the impact that artificial price signals and bill complexity have resulted in little efficiency improvements. While we are sanguine about the report’s suggested solution – distributed energy storage – we would much rather have smart markets, using […]
Read more »Several interesting articles on water and the smart grid: The first, courtesy of Water Efficiency.net, examines whether or not “smart water grid” is just a new label for the water efficiency protocols that have been discussed for years and whether the smart grid (for power or water) must depend upon a centralized network, or can […]
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