Tag: grids

The Status of the Smart Grid

  • A smart grid diagram from the US Department of Energy (Photo courtesy of the US Department of Energy)

Your power bill likely will change
in the next few years. Lester Graham
reports there’s a good chance you’ll
be thinking about how much electricity
you use and when you’ll use it:

Transcript

Your power bill likely will change
in the next few years. Lester Graham
reports there’s a good chance you’ll
be thinking about how much electricity
you use and when you’ll use it:

The Smart Grid will mean changes. Electric companies we’ll be able to monitor power use better and deliver electricity more efficiently. That should help avoid brown outs and black outs.

But it’ll also be tell you in real time how much power you’re using.

Brian Seal is with the non-profit Electric Power Research Institute. He says, eventually, you’ll be charged different rates at different times of the day.

“Consumers would be aware of that so that they can program their appliances and other equipment to consume energy when the price is low rather than when it’s high.”

But you’ll need Smart Appliances to work with a Smart Grid. GE is the first to announce a product line – right as the government released $3.4 billion in grants to power companies for the Smart Grid.

For The Environment Report, I’m Lester Graham.

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Is the Grid Ready for Electric Cars?

  • Utilities will work with customers to hook up to new "smart grid" technology that can program when each car starts recharging. (Photo by Steve Carmody)

Some people are worried that
lots of plug-in electric cars
will cause brownouts or blackouts.
At least two automakers will have
plug-in electrics on the market
next year. But utility companies
say, don’t worry. They’re ready.
Tracy Samilton reports:

Transcript

Some people are worried that
lots of plug-in electric cars
will cause brownouts or blackouts.
At least two automakers will have
plug-in electrics on the market
next year. But utility companies
say, don’t worry. They’re ready.
Tracy Samilton reports:

A lot of electric power plants in the U.S. sit idle between 9 p.m. and noon
each day.

Ed Kjear is head of Electric Transportation for Southern
California Edison. He says, as long as people plug in their electric cars
during those off-peak hours.

“160, 170 million cars could connect
to the grid tomorrow
and we wouldn’t have to build new power plants to meet that load.”

At first, just a few thousand people will own plug-in electric cars at
first. Utilities will work with these customers to hook up to new “smart
grid” technology that can program when each car starts recharging.

“The customer will say, ‘look I need
the car fueled by
6 or 7 tomorrow morning. You know, have at it.'”

Kjear says the technology will be easy to install and use by the time most
of us shift from gasoline to electricity to fuel our cars.

For The
Environment Report, I’m Tracy Samilton.

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Saving With a Smart Grid

  • With a smart grid system, your house can talk back to you and the power station (Source: Jdorwin at Wikimedia Commons)

The government is spending billions of taxpayer dollars on a new “smart grid.” Mark Brush reports the new grid could eventually save you money on your energy bills:

Transcript

The government is spending billions of taxpayer dollars on a new “smart grid.” Mark Brush reports the new grid could eventually save you money on your energy bills:

Right now – power just goes from point A to point B.

But with a smart
grid system, your house can talk back to you and the power station.

The
meter could tell you how much it costs to heat your water, for instance.

And the power company will be able to talk to you if they’re having a
problem.

So, if they’re headed for a blackout, they can text message you
or e-mail you and ask you to shut off your A/C.

Jesse Berst is the founding editor of Smart Grid News dot com. It’s a trade publication.

He says, if electric grids are updated across the country, it would cut
down on pollution and save money.

“And that means there’s billions, tens of billions of dollars of power
plants and lines that we wouldn’t have to build over the next couple of
decades.”

Upgrading the system won’t be easy.

Each state has regulatory agencies that oversee thousands of electric
suppliers.

So there will have to be a lot of coordination.

For The Environment Report, I’m Mark Brush.

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Ice Storm Reveals Dated Power Grid

  • Ice storms in the Midwest revealed weaknesses in a dated electric power grid. (Photo courtesy of US Department of Health and Human Services)

Hundreds of thousands of people in the lower Midwest are still without electricity and heat because of an ice storm. Lester Graham reports the storm shows that the electric power grid is fragile:

Transcript

Hundreds of thousands of people in the lower Midwest are still without electricity and heat because of an ice storm. Lester Graham reports the storm shows that the electric power grid is fragile:

People who tried to stay at home are running out of supplies and now heading for shelters. Rachel Harper and her three children are staying in a shelter in a church basement staffed by Red Cross volunteers from around Bowling Green, Kentucky.

“We’re doing okay. They’ve been watching movies, playing games. Just trying to be together as a family.”

Others are trying to stick it out at home. Mike Jarvis was stocking up at a Wal-Mart.

“I’ve got a wood heater and we’re cooking on the grill, so we’re doing okay.”

In the hardest hit areas, power crews say it will be two more weeks before they find all the downed lines.

The stimulus package includes money for automatic meter readers that could help find downed power lines faster.

Patrick Levine is with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. He says that technology could help.

“There is probably an opportunity to more quickly identify which consumers are without power.”

The ice storm revealed just one of the weaknesses in the grid that’ll have to be upgraded if we’re going to start using electricity to power our cars.

For The Environment Report, I’m Lester Graham.

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