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

Is The Smart Grid Bubbling Over in Home Energy Management? / Microsoft’s Hohm Sweet Hohm

A flurry of new announcements and interesting articles on the end user aspect of home energy management initiatives.  First, via Earth2Tech, a look at whether there is a bubble forming in the space: From my perspective,, there is one clear area of the smart grid that is seeing too much investment from venture capitalists, specifically […]

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Go Wet, Young Man … IT, Smart Meters, and Wired Water

Via Tech News World, a report on the application of information technology to water & the opportunities therein.  As the article notes: “…The very economic survival of a thirsty, arid Earth — with the U.S. southwest as a prime example — depends a great deal on properly applying the skills and expertise of app developers […]

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Green With Envy

Via The Atlantic, an interesting article on the power of peer information and the power of seizing on the concept of loss of a unit of value as a motivational opportunity—one that will finally get people to act.  As the report notes: “…Now Cialdini is applying that concept to energy consumption, with promising results. Positive […]

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Consumer Perspectives: Can ‘Smart Metering’ Overcome the Hassle Factor?

Via Master Resource, an interesting commentary on whether smart metering can overcome the hassle factor and how such may impact the success/consumer acceptance of smart grid initiatives.  As the article notes: “…When asked for conjectures about the Smart Grid, economists’ imaginations become almost indecently fertile. Writing in her blog, market-friendly Lynne Kiesling sees astounding dividends […]

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Electric Intelligence

Via Reason Magazine, an interesting look at demand response and the critical need for smart grid initiatives to involve regulatory reform, not just subsidies.  As the article notes: “…The digital communication technology revolution that has created mass productivity gains throughout the economy during the last 20 years is finally creeping into the electricity industry as […]

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Smart Grid to Grow 21 Percent a Year to $17B by 2014

Courtesy of Earth2Tech, interesting analysis of the smart grid market opportunity facing industry.  As the article notes: “…Networking giant Cisco has estimated that the market for smart grid communications will grow into a $20 billion-a-year opportunity as the infrastructure is built out over the next five years, and a new report from researchers at Specialists […]

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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.