FERC vs NERC: A grid control showdown over cyber security

TRANSMISSIONS
WWW.INTELLIGENTUTILITY.COM /// JULY/AUGUST 2011
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www.intelligentutility.com /// may/June 2011
the grid, this approach would enable
exception-based management
by dispatchers.
With a shift to a bottom-up, edgebased
control paradigm, potential
solutions become more feasible,
because now they better match the
problem. The key to managing an
incredibly data-rich grid will be
opening up to new players and
Smart Grid
2020
Where are we going?
We decided to plumb the depths of our own crystal ball,
and asked analysts, researchers and national laboratory leaders
where they think the industry is headed in the coming
Gazing into
decade, and what we can expect come 2020.
data analytics on the rise
the future of
In early January, Pike Research released data indicating that
the software and services that will enable smart grid data
the new utility
analytics will represent one of the largest growth opportunities
in the utility sector over the next few years, increasing
+ Some elements are
from a relatively small market of $356 million last year to
more hazy than others
nearly $4.2 billion in annual revenue by 2015.
By Kate Rowland
And there are clear indicators this trend will continue into
2020. “Data analysis is the area which is just emerging as a
It’S generally agreed that the comIng need: ‘Okay, I now have the systems in place and have lots
decade will bring more change to our industry of data, but what do I do with it?’” said John Wambaugh, a
than we’ve seen in the previous century.
vice president of Utility Integration Solutions (UISOL). “My
Industry researchers have clearly indicated they see a favorite quote is, ‘I have 100 times more data, and I still can’t
massive increase in smart grid spending between now and tell where the problem is.’”
2015. Late last year, SBI Energy was definitive in its expec- In my own conversations with utilities and vendors
tion that “The next five years will be a pivotal period for the alike, especially over the past year, the subject of struc-
global smart grid market, with grid component companies tured and unstructured data analytics has crept into
expected to leverage their sales prowess to capture long-term the discussions more and more often. As Craig Johnston,
contracts throughout the electric grid supply chain.” OGE Energy Corp.’s vice president, corporate strategy
But what about 2020?
and marketing, told us recently about his utility’s data
16
new possibilities, letting go of some
elements of control and changing the
paradigm. Managing data as it comes
into the system, out at the edge, for
example, reduces the data that must
be carried over the communication
system. Intelligent edge devices as
well are needed to substitute for
better equipped dispatchers.
John Cooper
Ecomergence
I agree with Dr. Harris that more gridlevel
data needs to be made available.
I also agree with him that knowing
the state of the grid is more valuable
than estimates of the state of the grid
(hence the term “state estimator”).
However, I’m not as sanguine about
the prospects for “perfection” and
“optimality” in a smarter grid with
more actors. Dispatchers, and dispatch
algorithms, face limitations on computing
power and the availability of
information. Consumers are not going
to sit quietly while a faceless individual
in Valley Forge decides when their air
conditioner can run, and when dinner
IlluStratIon by dana lechtenberg
needs to be put off for the sake of
economic efficiency.
If we’re really serious about engaging
consumers in this grid modernization
effort we call the “smart grid,”
then consumers have to be in charge,
not the dispatchers. Rather than exercising
control over the grid, dispatchers
monitor the grid, signal when the
grid is out of balance, and only step
in when automation
on the edge of the grid
can’t or won’t keep the
grid from collapsing.
I think some policymakers
are very serious
about engaging
consumers, but they
have no idea what’s
required and what the
ramifications are.
www.intelligentutility.com 17
Jack Ellis
Tahoe City, CA
Smart meter
manufacturers join forces
Intelligent Utility Daily, June 21
I find the need for the smart meter
manufacturers association both
interesting and sad.
I am speaking from personal firsthand
experience and interaction with
several of the smart meter manufacturers
who have created this association.
I have had extensive personal
experience with different utilities from
across the nation involving smart
meter uses and deployments. I fully
understand the needs of the manufacturers
in undertaking such efforts to
protect their bottom line. After all, this
is their business and, as stated in the
article, some have been in the business
for 100 years or more. The manufacturers
have maintained a product
reliability record that can be easily
verified and defended with astonishing
results. This too is pointed out by the
reports given in the article.
The sadness I feel is over the lack of
“clear” utility leadership in the efforts.
I believe the bottom-line reason for
the consumer pushback is not because
of smart meters per se, but more
about consumer frustration and lack
of voice. The smart meters are just the
newest lightning rod attracting the
pent-up anger/energy of the consumers.
Utilities have done a very poor
job of presenting consumer benefit
cases to the public, and the consumers
know that they will be charged for the
deployment of these new technologies
with questionable benefits for themselves.
The utilities will be the ones
who gain the greater benefits if the
present business cases are used.
The failure of utilities to understand
Marketing 101 and build products that
people want and are willing to pay for,
I believe, is the root of the problem. It
is not the smart meter that has failed,
but the utility business cases presented
to consumer with thinly veiled
consumer benefit packages. These
packages are being quickly disrobed,
by the consumers themselves I might
add, as another effort to raise rates and
increase utility revenue.
I applaud the smart meter manufacturers
for trying to step in as responsible
players. Their main problem is
that the real players are still sitting
in the stands watching the game.
Unfortunately for them (the utilities),
they do not fully realize the changing
game rules, nor do they see the new
players standing in the wings ready to
run onto the field. Most of the existing
utility players will not be around in the
near future, and the changes will come
fast and furious.
Richard G. Pate
Pate & Associates
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