Around the world, grid makeover picks up speed

Viewed from the perspective of just one year ago, it’s amazing how quickly developments in the smart-grid industry have accelerated. That term alone, though — “smart-grid industry” — is somewhat deceptive. Things might be moving fast, but it’s still early in the game, and the smart-grid world remains anything but monolithic.

In the US, advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) projects and other grid improvements received a giant shot in the arm thanks to billions upon billions of dollars in Recovery Act funding. That’s helped push developments far beyond simple rollouts of smart meters.

Just as well, too, considering the anti-smart meter noise that’s been dogging the US market lately. While that’s been making utilities in the States a bit more cautious, the same doesn’t apply to places like Europe and South America.

“Outside the US, we see a very different picture,” says Jeff Lund, vice president of business development for the smart-grid firm Echelon. “It sounds like a tale of two cities.”

In the case of the European smart-meter experience, Lund explains, utilities deploying AMI are not only seeing energy consumption go down but are also seeing customer complaints decline “more than expected.” Those types of results have helped to generate broader business case support for smart-grid improvements in the EU, he says.

Making that business case will be important to move along development in the US, Lund says.

“In some ways, the US is more ahead,” he says. “A lot more meters are being deployed, but they’re not as functional” as those being deployed elsewhere.

Utilities in the States also have some catching up to do with their European counterparts when it comes to sharing business experiences and data about AMI and smart-grid projects. Lund says his company is banking on Duke Energy helping in that regard. The utility is moving forward with what it’s called “one of the largest smart-grid initiatives in the US,” a billion-dollar-plus project to modernise the electricity infrastructure in five states: Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Duke, the third-largest electricity utility in the US, last year became the first energy firm to deploy the Echelon Control System (ECoS) that brings smart technology to other points on the grid beyond meters.

“I think the new project coming forward will increase awareness,” Lund says. That’s important as utilities find themselves facing a slew of new questions about their future: everything from how to improve the efficiency of their operations to how to reduce the need to build new power plants to how to best incorporate distributed energy resources and a growing population of electric vehicles.

“I think people see it coming faster than maybe they thought,” Lund says.