The Smart Grid Transportation Utility

Every one should agree that "It is clear that dramatic change is coming in the future for the electric utility industry and the way energy is generated, delivered and consumed substantially changing the whole business model. This change is coming to a piece of the industry that hasn't been known for radical change over its 120 plus year history... Implementation of the Smart Grid will require a complete rethinking of the utility business model and business processes."
Such dramatic and radical change is leading to an emergent smart grid transportation utility to replace today's utilities, with customer oriented front office and back office activity done today by the enterprise side of the utility and power generation front office and back office activity becoming competitive activities at the federal level.

A complete rethinking of the industry structure has already been done during the past two years in the Energy Central Network and what has emerged is the Electricity Without Price Controls (EWPC) market architecture and paradigm shift. As a result there is a grand vision as can be seen in the EWPC article Value Creation for the Customers to shift from the "compliance-based industry in which utilities operate," to one that "offer enough incentive for consumers, [generators and retailers] to take the difficult steps necessary to make electrical energy markets operate efficiently."

In sum, the utility as we know it evolves as the smart grid becomes the transportation utility under central planning. Shifting from price controls to prudential regulation, generation and customer facing front and back office activities will become free market activities as can be seen in the EWPC article Free Market and Central Planning, Under R1E2. R1E2 is the policy system reliability first, economy second, that gives priority to "real-time/near real-time" generation, transportation and demand power system smart grid activities with respect to economic free market activities.

Source: Jose Antonio Vanderhorst-Silverio

Smart Meters in UK could cost £20bn

Tim Webb in The Observer (Sunday March 16, 2008) wrote that the implementation of Smart Meters on every home in the UK could costs as much as £20bn discussed how this may be passed onto the consumer. Click here to see the full article on The Observer website.

Click here for Source - The Observer

Gazprom Marketing & Trading buys into Smart Metering

Gazprom Marketing & Trading - the UK-based subsidiary of the World's biggest natural gas company - announced that it has taken an equity stake in a leading automated meter reading supplier.

The company, TruRead, provides a series of creative technologies and solutions which enable meters for gas, electricity, water and other commodities to be read remotely and data transferred without human intervention.

This remote data allows consumers to measure energy use in near real time which enables them to better manage their energy consumption and carbon footprint, 'Smart metering is the technology of the future,' said Vitaly Vasiliev, CEO of Gazprom Marketing & Trading.
'With rising public and regulatory concern about the need to reduce carbon emissions, this proprietary technology will enable multi-commodity consumers to be more energy efficient and to control their energy use more easily and cost-effectively,' said Vasiliev. 'TruRead will be able to give its customers an even better service, while offering new, added value products, like low cost AMR solutions. This is in line with our goal to be a leader of diversified energy services.'
Simon Slater, Managing Director of TruRead, said: 'Today is a momentous occasion for TruRead, it gives us the green light to develop our products and services further, both in the UK and globally'. 'We believe our new product range to be a unique service, which we can quickly begin to market to our customers', Slater added TruRead provides a managed data service through Automated Meter Reading (AMR) and offers a complete, integrated set of services, for end-to-end collection and delivery of meter reading, for electricity, gas and water, using cutting-edge technology at a competitive price. The service starts with the installation of the meter or data-logger and ends with accurate, timely reads, along with an ad-hoc data retrieval service.
TruRead can provide a wide range of delivered data, ranging from simple and accurate billing reads, through to daily or half-hourly consumption data. 'Smart meters' scheme for UK could cost up to £20bn.

Source: TruRead

ZigBee makes electric outlets smart

Energy Optimizers Limited (EOL) has developed a ZigBee-based plug-in electricity meter that can help companies and households shave hundreds to thousands of dollars off their electricity bills. The U.K. company's device, called the plogg, allows home- and building-owners to monitor how much electricity is being used by individual appliances and electronic devices so that energy efficiency can be improved.

Recent studies by the British government and the Carbon Trust show that people can save five to 15 percent of the electricity they use by using smart meters to manage energy demands.
The plogg is a combined smart meter plug and data logger, based on Ember's ZigBee wireless technology running on a Telegesis module. It can be attached to any electrical appliance or device that uses a standard UK 13 Amp or European 16 Amp plug. A plogg for the North American market is currently under evaluation.

The plogg stores the measured electricity data and wirelessly communicates this information to a PC, mobile phone or building management system anywhere in the world through an Internet-linked Ethernet gateway. For instance, a restaurant chain could use ploggs to monitor energy use by refrigeration and air conditioning units, with all the information collected at a central point via the Internet. Upon discovering that some air conditioners were left on after business hours, the plogg would allow them to switch off air conditioning units by remote activation, or alert a manager that a unit needs servicing. The plogg meters can support a range of other wireless-based energy saving devices as well, such as temperature and light level sensors.

Using Ember's EM250 ZigBee "system-on-chip" transceiver and EmberZNet PRO wireless mesh networking software running on a Telegesis module, a network of ploggs can self organize to provide robust coverage of the home or building. The plogg can act as an end device, a router or ZigBee coordinator. It is available as a stand-alone end-user device, or part of an energy reporting network, or as an embeddable device for OEM products.

In addition to measuring power consumption, a real-time clock function allows time-of-usemetering information for multi-rate applications. Data logging can be set from one minute to one month. The meter samples voltage and current signals 50 times per AC cycle, at a sampling rate of 2520 Hz.

"Telegesis embedded devices provided us with a straightforward, cost effective and importantly, a quick route to market," said Shaun Merrick, general manager at EOL. "With the release from Ember of EmberZNet PRO 3.1, we now have the means to deliver micro building management systems, incorporating compatible energy controls such as light, presence and temperature sensors."

The EM250 is an 802.15.4/ZigBee compliant semiconductor system that integrates a programmable microprocessor, RF radio, network protocol stack and memory into a tiny, singlechip solution (7mm on a side). It offers EOL dramatic reductions in component size, cost and power consumption, and increased range due to its very high sensitivity. The EM250 runs EmberZNet PRO 3.1, Ember's enhanced ZigBee PRO compliant networking stack.
The ZigBee Alliance is an association of companies working together to enable reliable, costeffective, low-power, wirelessly networked monitoring and control products based on an open global standard. The ZigBee Alliance is a rapidly growing, non-profit industry consortium of leading semiconductor manufacturers, technology providers, OEMs, and end-users worldwide.
Membership is open to all.

Additional information can be found at http://www.zigbee.org/.

Source: http://www.zigbee.org/

ICT: the know-how to make the cut

Information technology is playing an ever greater role in helping us reduce carbon emissions, writes Emily Farnworth. Of all the industry sectors, information and communication technology (ICT) is emerging as one of the strongest candidates to lead the fight against climate change. On first glance this may not be apparent - IT consultancy Gartner estimates the sector currently accounts for nearly 2 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, - with data centres alone accounting for 23 per cent of this figure.

However, it is worth looking deeper into the story to understand the real impact the sector is having. And we are not just talking about video conferencing.More power, less painWith our hunger for information and global connectivity showing no sign of being satiated, it is easy to imagine a world where energy is drained by the proliferation of gadgets and gismos, products and services.

Thankfully the exponential growth in communications and information transfer around the world is not matched by an exponential growth in carbon emissions. While the processing power of PCs doubles every couple of years, their energy use does not, owing to improvements in efficiency.

Furthermore, many producers of ICT equipment have teamed up under the Climate Savers Computing Initiative to achieve a 50 per cent reduction in power consumption by computers in 2010. Beyond PCs, the growing trend of virtualising data centres can result in up to 70 per cent to 80 per cent reductions in space, power and cooling. And some data centres, such as Google's, are being built near renewable energy supplies and in cooler climes to take advantage of cheaper, cleaner power and natural air cooling.

Energy and enterprise

Not only is ICT becoming more energy efficient, it is supporting increased productivity in the economy. In both Europe and the US, the growth of the internet and ICTs more widely has coincided with a decoupling of energy use from GDP growth, and recent studies have aimed to prove that it is growth in ICT that is causing this trend.

A 2008 study by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy has gone as far as to claim that ICT is driving system changes in the US economy such that for every extra kilowatt-hour that has been demanded by ICT, the US economy has increased its overall energy savings by a factor of about 10 - mainly achieved through making business activities more efficient.Transferring ICT solutions into new places lies at the heart of the sector's potential to fight climate change. A study by the AeA (formerly the American Electronics Association) in 2007 suggested that ICT has a significant role to play in delivering Europe's targets for a 20 per cent reduction in energy consumption by 2020. These figures point to an exciting role for ICT to unlock carbon emissions reductions from other sectors and business activities.

Smart solutions

Smart meters - made by multinationals like ABB to boutique start-ups like DIY Kyoto - provide the ability to better manage energy in homes, offices and factories. 'Smart grid' systems are being developed by companies like Itron that integrate smart metering, demand response, storage and distribution to enhance reliability of the grid and pave the way for increasing the share of intermittent power sources from renewables.

Software that accurately maps forests is being used by ImageTree, a company that uses remote sensing imagery software to provide accurate forest inventories and facilitate better forestry management, a crucial tool given that deforestation accounts for 20 per cent of global carbon emissions. Not forgetting the benefits of telecommunication, a 2006 study commissioned by the European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association and WWF, entitled

Saving the Climate @ the Speed of Light, suggested that through a combination of virtual meetings, e-materialisation and flexible working, Europe could save more than 50 million tonnes of CO2 each year.Using information and communication technologies to measure and manage energy is likely to facilitate greater emission reductions across industry sectors. ICT has a lot to bring to the table, both in terms of deep emissions cuts and economic prosperity. It is something that until now has been largely overlooked and unexplored and requires a shift in our thinking to realise the benefits. We have the tools and the capability at our finger tips - what we need is to get smart about using them.

Emily Farnworth is director of The Climate Group. It is partnering with the Global eSustainability Initiative (GeSI) on the first global study on the role of ICT in climate change with the aim of understanding both the direct and indirect carbon impacts of the sector, and assessing the opportunitiest. The project will report in June. For more information, go to www.theclimategroup.org/ict

Source; http://www.climatechangecorp.com/

Major U.S. Mid-Atlantic Utility Selects BPL Global’s Serveron to Supply On-Line Transfomer Monitors

BPL Global announced today it was selected by a major U.S. mid-Atlantic region investor-owned utility through its Serveron subsidiary to be its exclusive supplier of on-line monitors for this power company's fleet of power transformers.

Under terms of the multi-year contract, Serveron has already shipped the first instalment of 30 monitors, with a value for the initial order of more than $1 million. Serveron, a BPL Global Company, is a leading provider of smart grid technology that enables electric utilities to improve reliability, reduce maintenance costs and optimize capital expenditures for power transformers, the largest asset class in the electric grid.

Dermot O'Leary, Serveron's vice president and general manager, said: "The selection of our on-line transformer monitoring technology and expertise shows that this major utility's operating management is in tune with the power industry's growing commitment to reliability and to protecting the critical assets of power transformer fleets."

On-site, on-line transformer monitoring is a proven solution enabling electric utilities to manage transformer assets more reliably, operate them with a greater margin of safety and minimize or safely postpone the costs of repairing or replacing these valuable assets. The cost of purchasing new power transformers can range from about $500,000 to more than $10 million each. In addition to the significant Serveron order, more than 25 other major electric utilities in the
United States are committed to new voluntary transformer-monitoring standards to help prevent transformer failures. Serveron markets its advanced dissolved gas analysis transformer monitoring technology to electric utilities, and other power generation, transmission and distribution organizations in the U.S. and around the world.

Source; BPL

Siemens and eMeter Announce Strategic Relationship

Siemens and eMeter announce a global, joint development and supply agreement for the sale and implementation of eMeter's EnergyIP™ meter data management software. Siemens will provide a global EnergyIP sales and delivery channel including installation, configuration, and first line support. eMeter will support Siemens' sales providing EnergyIP software, globalization, and advanced support.

Leveraging the strengths of both Siemens and eMeter, EnergyIP is poised to become the global standard in meter data management (MDM) software and a cornerstone for the Smart Grid. Siemens and eMeter will enable the integration of MDM with existing utility systems through strong partnering programs with providers of AMI technology and system integration services.
Siemens selected eMeter for its market leadership in MDM based on the architectural superiority of EnergyIP and its independently certified performance. EnergyIP offers sustainable competitive advantages in functionality, flexibility, scalability, open architecture, and total life-cycle cost of ownership.

"For successful utilities' long-term AMI and MDM strategies, it is essential to have an open, technology-neutral and independent MDM system, such as that offered by eMeter's EnergyIP," said Paul Maher, CEO, Siemens Metering Services.

eMeter elected to partner with Siemens for its unsurpassed global capabilities in utility software sales, delivery, and support; its expertise and array of products and services for Smart Grids; and global experience working with existing eMeter partners, including system integrators and AMI technology companies.

"Through this joint development and supply agreement, eMeter will extend the capabilities of EnergyIP and complement this with Siemens' global sales and project execution," said Cree Edwards, CEO, eMeter. "Our relationship will leverage Siemens' global sales organization operating in 190 countries and Siemens' strengths in Smart Grid products and services to make EnergyIP the global MDM standard and a foundation for grid automation."

Source; eMeter

Xcel Energy announces first Smart Grid City in the nation

Xcel Energy announced today it will put in motion its vision to make Boulder, Colo. the nation's first fully integrated Smart Grid City.

The advanced, smart grid system - when fully implemented over the next few years - will provide customers with a portfolio of smart grid technologies designed to provide environmental, financial and operational benefits. Xcel Energy anticipates funding only a portion of the project, and plans to leverage other sources including government grants for the remainder of what could be up to a $100 million effort.

"Smart Grid City is the first step toward building the grid of the future," said Dick Kelly, Xcel Energy chairman, president and CEO. "In Boulder, we'll collaborate with others to integrate all aspects of our smart grid vision and evaluate the benefits. The work we're doing will benefit not only Boulder, but also customers throughout our eight-state service territory. We're pleased to partner with the city and our Boulder customers as we begin this journey."

In December 2007, Xcel Energy established the Smart Grid Consortium, bringing together leading technologists, engineering firms, business leaders and IT experts. Consortium members include Accenture, Current Group, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories and Ventyx. The group will provide guidance, products and services needed to bring Xcel Energy's smart grid vision to life.

In addition to its geographic concentration, ideal size and access to all grid components, Boulder was selected as the Smart Grid City because it is home to the University of Colorado and several federal institutions, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which already is involved in smart grid efforts for the federal government.

Smart Grid City could feature a number of infrastructure upgrades and customer offerings - for the first time fully integrated through the partnership's efforts in Boulder - including:
Transformation of existing metering infrastructure to a robust, dynamic electric system communications network, providing real-time, high-speed, two-way communication throughout the distribution grid;

Conversion of substations to "smart" substations capable of remote monitoring, near real-time data and optimized performance;

At the customer's invitation, installation of programmable in-home control devices and the necessary systems to fully automate home energy use; and

Integration of infrastructure to support easily dispatched distributed generation technologies (such as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles with vehicle-to-grid technology; battery systems; wind turbines; and solar panels).

The potential benefits of the Smart Grid City include operational savings, customer-choice energy management, better grid reliability, greater energy efficiency and conservation options, increased use of renewable energy sources, and support for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and intelligent-home appliances.

With the city now selected, Xcel Energy and its Smart Grid Consortium will spend the next four weeks to six weeks studying the city's electricity infrastructure to develop a scope and preliminary design plan for implementing the changes. Work would start soon after, but system changes will take place over the next few years.

The first phase of Smart Grid City is expected to be in place by as early as August 2008, with implementation throughout the city continuing through 2009. Beginning in 2009, the consortium also expects to begin an initial assessment of the technologies.

After initial implementation and assessment, Xcel Energy will use the results from this effort to talk with state, federal and regulatory officials about a larger deployment throughout the company's eight-state service territory.

Xcel Energy also unveiled a Smart Grid Consortium web site today, www.xcelenergy.com/smartgrid, which has graphics and educational materials explaining its Smart Grid vision.

Source; Xcel Energy

Excess Energy - what to do

The first of our pieces from contributors we take a look at a view on Energy from New Zealand
If we continue to install wind turbines, solar panels, tidal generators and hydro dams, we will find ourselves more and more often in the beatific state of generating more power than we know what to do with. There will be times when a nor-wester is blowing, the sun is shining ( they occur together here in NZ), a spring tide is running and the reservoirs are bursting from recent rains. What should we do? We could feather the wind turbines, let the tidal generators free-wheel, and allow the excess water to flow over the spill-way without going through the turbines but it seems like such a waste. With the advent of excess power the possibility opens up to use demand balancing of our grid rather than supply balancing.

Line SignalsWe've long had a system in New Zealand of heating our water at night. In the evening, at a given time, the generating company sends a signal down the lines. If you are set up for it, this turns on your water heater. Because you are using power when demand is low, you get a better rate. In the morning at a set time, a second signal turns off your water heater. This is the horse and buggy demand-balancing-system. We could have the space shuttle.
Instead of sending the signal at a given time, it could be sent when power generation exceeds demand. Even better there is nothing to stop the power company from sending a number of different "turn on" and "turn off" signals. The company could send Priority 1 when there is a little excess power, priority 2 when the take up by priority 1 isn't sufficient to balance the supply and Priority 3 when generation is really humming along. The customer chooses (dials) which priority they want for a given function. Of course, the lower the priority (priority 3 in this example) the cheaper the rate. The sort of loads that these power options would be useful for would be pumped storage, heating your water, charging your electric car, and generating Hydrogen for later power use.

The flip side of such a system is less demand in times of lower power production. If you already have a tank of hot water or if your electric car is already charged up, you won't be using power when it is in short supply. The vehicle charging points at your place of work could be on this system. You may have enough power in your batteries to get home after work but, given a choice, you would rather have your car fully charged. You select the most conservative, least expensive option on the dial on the office plug-in point and swipe in your credit card. During the day, if the lowest priority signal is sent, your car gets some extra charge at the best rate. If not you charge your car when you get home utilizing the night rate.

On the other hand, if you arrived at work without enough power to get home, you might choose the less conservative option or even the most expensive "charge now" option and pay a little more to have your car charged. You might even choose "charge now" for $10, which would be enough to get home where you could access a more favorable night rate. This is only one option for balancing demand against available generation.

Pumped storageAnother system which is used by some generation companies is pumped storage. When excess power is available, water is pumped into a reservoir to be used for "peak shaving" when power demand is high. This seems counter-intuitive, since, as everyone knows, no system is 100% efficient. You lose power at each stage. You are probably lucky to get back 60% of the power you used to pump the water. The reason the system is feasible is largely financial. To build a separate power plant that is on standby most of the time is expensive, especially when you factor costs such as the interest on the loan to build the plant. Such a plant is not generating most of the time so the return on the investment is poor. It turns out that in some cases, even with the inevitable power loss, it is financially more favourable to use pumped storage for peak shaving rather than building another power plant. With excess (cheap) power, pumped storage is likely to be even more attractive for some power companies.

Production of HydrogenHydrogen has long been touted as the fuel of the future. It is of course not an energy source. There are no underground pools of Hydrogen we can tap as we do with oil. However it has some very attractive features as an energy-transfer mechanism. Firstly it can be used to fuel a special "battery" called a fuel cell. Hydrogen is particularly attractive in this regard since hydrogen fuel cells operate at room temperature. These fuel cells are pretty efficient and you get a large portion of the energy back that you used to split the water molecule. You also get very pure Oxygen as a by-product of the electrolysis process, which, in a commercial operation, has a market for medical purposes, for welding, and for steel production.

Besides powering fuel cells, hydrogen can be used in internal or external combustion engines and can be used to reduce metal ores in place of coke. It can also be combined with coal to make petrol and diesel. In this application, there is still a carbon footprint as some fossil fuel is being used but it is much reduced over the use of pure coal and it produces a liquid fuel which is useful for transport.

Arguably, though hydrogen is best use in static facilities rather than as a transportation fuel. This is because it takes a lot of energy to compress or liquefy hydrogen for use in a vehicle. In a static facility there is another way of storing hydrogen.

As a boy in Vancouver, I remember the huge tanks used to store producer-gas. For those of you too young to remember, producer gas is a nasty mix of hydrogen, methane and carbon monoxide which is produced by passing a stream of steam through burning coke or coal. Have a gas leak in your home and the carbon monoxide in producer gas will kill you long before a similar gas leak of propane would have smothered you. The producer gas was piped from the storage tanks to businesses and domestic locations around Vancouver. So how did the tanks work?

The storage tanks resemble the tanks you see in petrol refineries but they are open-topped and contain water. A second open-bottomed tank, slightly smaller in diameter, is floated inside the main tank. The gas is let into the bottom of the tank and as it flows in, the inner tank floats higher and higher. Gas pressure is determined by how much the inner tank weighs and by how much extra weight is put on it. Such a system is only suitable for a static application but is perfectly amenable to small scale domestic use if electricity can be accessed at a suitable price to produce the hydrogen (priority 2 or 3in our example)

A problem with hydrogen is that the hydrogen molecule is very small. It will get through the smallest gap in a joint and hydrogen even soaks into some substances and actually leak out through the material itself. However technical fixes have been found for these problems.
This property of Hydrogen is leading to a new way of storing it. Hydrogen is adsorbed by certain metal alloys. It is absorbed so efficiently that in, say, a diving tank full of the alloy, you can store more hydrogen than would be the case if you compressed the hydrogen to 200 atmospheres into the same tank. Moreover, the storage takes place at very modest temperatures and pressures. Heat is given out when the hydrogen is absorbed and heat must be supplied to release the hydrogen, so there are some energy costs. See:
www.csa.com/discoveryguides/hydrogen/overview.php

So hydrogen is an attractive option for using excess power when power is cheap. The hydrogen then represents an energy store which can be used when renewables are at an ebb. For some reason, possibly because of the Hindenburg, Hydrogen is considered a dangerous fuel. In actual fact it is far safer than any of the liquid fuels or any of the gaseous fuels with a vapour heavier than air. This includes all of the alkanes except methane. Ethane has a vapour of almost equal density to that of air and all the higher alkanes such as propane, butane etc. have vapours heavier than air. If there is a hydrogen leak, the hydrogen dissipates upwards and removes itself from the hydrogen source. The rest of the gaseous and liquid fuels flow down and across the ground looking for a spark. If Hydrogen ignites, you have a fire ball which rapidly rises upwards and is gone. Gaseous fuels spread their fire on the ground as far as they have dispersed and liquid fuels stay on the ground, igniting everything flammable in their path.

Domestic regenerationA further possibility for balancing power is re-generation by the domestic consumer. If there is a high demand, the consumer with an electric car or a home hydrogen system could be putting power back into the grid when yet another signal is sent down the line. A family on vacation, for instance, could leave their electric car and their hydrogen system plugged in with the switch set to "supply". The unit would be programed to receive power when it is at the lowest rate and send it back at times of highest demand. Over their vacation, their house and/or electric car would generate a small income for them.

A main criticism of renewable energy is that it is pulsating and unpredictable. There is certainly some truth in this although not as much as it appears at first glance. For instance, as solar panels become common all over the country, places in the sun will balance places with cloud cover. The same applies to wind power. As fronts move from South to North along New Zealand, a pulse of wind generated electricity moves with it to be distributed by our power grid. Hydro is the ideal power source to instantly balance any shortfalls and New Zealand is rich in Hydro resources. On top of this any system which store excess energy in times of high generation, as mentioned above, and makes it available in times of low generation is of value.

Here in New Zealand in our present (2008) la Nina climate an interesting fact has come to light. Our wind generation is somewhat lower than average while our sun hours are greater. At present, solar electric is insignificant as a power source but as more solar comes on line, it appears that solar will help to balance wind. This would not necessarily be the case in all countries.

In the end, as our fossil energy runs out, we may even have to take a look at our tendency to be control freaks and accept that we can not always have energy exactly when we want it. Where I live we have now being living with solar water heating for half a year and while we almost always have hot water, three completely cloudy days leaves the tank cold. We find we are now much more aware of the weather and we never leave the hot water running while we do the dishes. Perhaps living with renewable energy will make us all a little more aware of our environment and our impact on it.

Hugh Williams

National Grid to appeal Competition Act decision on Metering

The following posting was placed on the National Grid website.

National Grid plc (“National Grid”) is extremely disappointed with the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority’s (GEMA) decision that National Grid has infringed the Competition Act in relation to a number of metering contracts entered into with gas suppliers in 2004.

These contracts were negotiated over a two year period, were voluntarily entered into by gas suppliers and delivered immediate and substantial reductions in charges for meter services, saving customers around £120m over the four years of their operation. Ofgem was consulted throughout this process of contract development and negotiation and has acknowledged that National Grid had no intention to breach the Competition Act.

We are convinced that the contracts do not infringe competition law and therefore believe that they should remain in full effect. We also believe that the £41.6m fine is wholly inappropriate. We will be lodging an appeal with the Competition Appeal Tribunal.

National Grid’s Chief Executive, Steve Holliday, said: "National Grid has been instrumental in helping Ofgem to develop competition in the UK metering industry, and we strongly believe we have never acted anti-competitively in the development of our contracts. Despite nearly three years of exhaustive analysis by Ofgem, we believe there is no evidence that National Grid has harmed consumers, competition or gas suppliers, and we are left with no option but to present our case to the Competition Appeal Tribunal.”

Source: National Grid

Xcel Energy Launches Groundbreaking Wind-to-Battery Project

Xcel Energy soon will begin testing a cutting-edge technology to store wind energy in batteries. It will be the first use of the technology in the United States for direct wind energy storage.
Integrating variable wind and solar power production with the needs of the power grid is an ongoing issue for the utility industry. Xcel Energy will begin testing a one-megawatt battery-storage technology to demonstrate its ability to store wind energy and move it to the electricity grid when needed. Fully charged, the battery could power 500 homes for over 7 hours.

"Energy storage is key to expanding the use of renewable energy," said Dick Kelly, Xcel Energy Chairman, President and CEO. "This technology has the potential to reduce the impact caused by the variability and limited predictability of wind energy generation. As the nation's leader in distributing wind energy, this will be very important to both us and our customers."

Xcel Energy has signed a contract to purchase a battery from NGK Insulators Ltd. that will be an integral part of a project. The sodium-sulfur battery is commercially available and versions of this technology are already being used in Japan and in a few US applications, but this is the first U.S. application of the battery as a direct wind energy storage device.

The 20 50-kilowatt battery modules will be roughly the size of two semi trailers and weigh approximately 80 tons. They will be able to store about 7.2 megawatt-hours of electricity, with a charge/discharge capacity of one megawatt. When the wind blows, the batteries are charged. When the wind calms down, the batteries supplement the power flow.

The project will take place in Luverne, Minn., about 30 miles east of Sioux Falls, S.D., with the battery installation beginning this spring adjacent and connected to a nearby 11-megawatt wind farm owned by Minwind Energy, LLC. S&C Electric Company will install the battery and all associated interconnection components. The battery is expected to go on-line in October 2008.
Partners in the project with Xcel Energy include the University of Minnesota, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Great Plains Institute and Minwind Energy, LLC. Xcel Energy is testing emerging technology and energy storage devices as part of its overall Smart Grid strategy, which modernizes and upgrades the grid to allow for easier integration of renewable energy sources.

The project has been selected to receive a $1 million grant from Minnesota's Renewable Development Fund, pending Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approval this spring.

Source: Xcel Energy

Siemens PTI Releases Largest Upgrade to Its Signature Software

PSS(TM)E Version 31 breaks new ground in transmission planning

Siemens Power Transmission & Distribution, Inc., Power Technologies International (Siemens PTI) announces the release of its largest upgrade to PSS(TM)E in history. Version 31 integrates all PSS(TM)E functionality -- power flow, short circuit and dynamics -- under one contiguous Microsoft Windows(R) shell. This process allows Siemens PTI to develop smart interfaces for seamless data exchange between PSS(TM) products including PSS(TM)ODMS and MOD(R).
The PSS(TM)E development team has incorporated a number of user-suggested features in Version 31. The introduction of "Scenario Manager," a revolutionary concept where files and data for steady state and dynamics studies are brought into one contiguous work space, eliminates the historical need to track large numbers of files.

Version 31 is now compatible with automation files developed on previous PSS(TM)E versions such as IDEV and IPLAN. The user can execute these files directly in PSS(TM)E Version 31 by simply adding a version number to the start of the IDEV or IPLAN files, thereby eliminating the re-work of automated files with each new PSS(TM)E release.

In addition to the common graphical user interface across all of PSS(TM)E and shared components, new optional algorithms are available in Version 31 including a Graphical Control Model Builder (GMB) and new small signal stability package, NEVA. Also introduced in the base product is the reliability analysis module integrated from TPLAN.

“In Version 31, you have a powerhouse of analytical capabilities required to meet the design challenges of both today's grid and tomorrow's smart grid," said Michael Edmonds, Siemens PTI vice president and general manager. "Siemens PTI shall continue its 'user-in-mind' strategy forincorporating further enhancements into the PSS(TM)E software of the future."

Source: Siemens

Pepco Holdings Selects Itron System for Smart Meter Data Management

Pepco Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: POM) today announced that Itron Inc. has been selected to provide a meter data management system that will support both the company’s existing meter technology and a planned switch to smart meters, marking a major milestone in the transformation of PHI’s customer metering technology to the digital age.

The Itron Enterprise Edition Meter Data Management solution will collect, store and analyze data from existing meters and eventually the new, digital “smart meters.” The new meters are proposed for installation over the next five years in the residences and businesses of the nearly 2 million customers served by PHI’s three electric utilities, Atlantic City Electric, Delmarva Power and Pepco.

The advanced metering technology will enable the utilities to provide energy usage and other information to enable customers to better manage their energy use and monthly bills.
“Itron’s system will help PHI consolidate its existing metering information and when implemented, will store and help analyze the massive amounts of data that will be available from the advanced metering system,” said Todd McGregor, PHI project manager. “Smart meters will not only give customers more information but will help us to make improvements in reliability, outage management and customer service.”

Source: Pepco Holdings

Institute for Energy releases report - “Distributed Power Generation in Europe: technical issues for further integration”

The electric power sector in Europe is currently facing different changes and evolutions mainly in response to the three issues at EU level - environmental sustainability, security of supply, and competitiveness. These challenges, against a background of growing electricity demand, may represent drivers for facilitating the further deployment of Distributed Power Generation technologies in Europe.

The Report focuses on the potential role of Distributed Power Generation (or simply Distributed Generation, DG) in a European perspective. More specifically, this work aims to assess the technical issues and developments related to DG technologies and their integration into the European power systems.

As a starting point the concept of Distributed Generation is characterised for the purpose of the study. Distributed Generation, defined as an electric power source connected to the distribution network, serving a customer on-site or providing network support, may offer various benefits to the European electric power systems. DG technologies may consist of small/medium size, modular energy conversion units, which are generally located close to end users and transform primary energy resources into electricity and eventually heat.

There are, however, major issues concerning the integration of DG technology into the distribution networks. In fact, the existing distribution networks were not generally designed to operate in presence of DG technologies. Consequently, a sustained increase in the deployment of DG resources may imply several changes in the electric power system architecture in the near future.

The Report on Distributed Generation in Europe, after an overview of the basic elements of electric power systems, introduces the proposed definition and main features of DG. Then, it reviews the state-of-the-art of DG technologies as well as focuses on current DG grid integration issues. Technical solutions towards DG integration in Europe and developments concerning the future distribution systems are also addressed in the study.

The Report is downloadable at http://ie.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ (under Scientific Publications 2008) and its complete Abstract is hereunder transcribed.

Source: Smart Electric News

Austin Energy Signs Agreement with Cellnet+Hunt to Expand Two-Way Advanced Metering Deployment

Austin Energy, the 10th largest community-owned electric utility in the nation, has signed an agreement to expand the deployment of a two-way advanced metering system from Cellnet+Hunt.

The agreement calls for Austin Energy to deploy Cellnet+Hunt’s two-way mesh AMI system for up to 234,000 residential and C&I meters in 2008. The utility serves nearly 400,000 electricity customers in and around Austin, TX, and has utilized a Cellnet+Hunt fixed-network advanced metering solution for approximately a third of its customers since 2002.

Based on the Cellnet+Hunt RF mesh communications network, Austin Energy’s deployment will enable the utility to leverage its network for smart grid and demand response applications. These may include time-of-use pricing, distribution automation, load shedding, remote disconnect and in-home communication.

“This agreement continues our ongoing partnership with Austin Energy and will enable the utility to maximize return on its energy management strategy and achieve its Smart Grid goals,” said Tracy Moore, Senior Vice President of Services at Cellnet+Hunt. “The network infrastructure we are deploying for Austin enables the utility to add two-way metering endpoints anywhere in its service territory.”

Cellnet+Hunt RF mesh system is the leading two-way asynchronous RF mesh network combining AMI, DA, SCADA and multi-service utility meter operation functions into one Smart Grid network platform. The Cellnet+Hunt RF mesh system is currently operational at over 200 utilities worldwide.

SOURCE: Cellnet+Hunt

SensorTran Joins Leading Smart Grid Energy Consortium

First DTS provider joins GridWise Alliance in helping to transform U.S. electric system
SensorTran, Inc., a provider of advanced distributed temperature sensing (DTS) systems, announced today that it has joined the GridWise Alliance, a leading consortium of public and private stakeholders focused on transforming the nation’s electric grid. SensorTran will join more than 50 companies, including Cisco, GE, IBM, and SAP, with the collective objective of leveraging innovative new technologies to make the electric grid more efficient, cost-effective, resilient, secure, and reliable.

A key difference between the Smart Grid and the traditional electric power system will be the injection of renewable energy and consumer-generated surplus power, making it critical to control variable, bi-directional flows of electricity. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), more than $16 trillion will be spent worldwide between 2003 and 2030 in pursuit of the Smart Grid vision.

SensorTran DTS technology enables real-time, dynamic temperature measurements across power cables and serves the critical role of dynamic load management for a Smart Grid infrastructure. Using DTS, utility companies will be able to accurately monitor electrical capacity – known as Ampacity – by using actual rather than estimated temperature data, enabling optimal circuit management.

“As collaboration and innovation are critical to any major industry transformation, we are pleased to have SensorTran as part of the Alliance," said Guido Bartels, chairman, GridWise Alliance. "With the new energy bill that passed in 2007, Congress has signalled a significant shift in our nation's energy policy. By having companies like SensorTran join the Alliance, we are advancing our strategy of building a broad national consensus for implementing these Smart Grid concepts." “Smart Grid represents a significant upgrade for utilities, and DTS technology plays a critical role in this effort,” said Kent Kalar, CEO and president of SensorTran. “For both transmission and distribution systems, real-time temperature data can not only help extend the life of the existing infrastructure, but also improve the management of dynamic circuit and feeder loads. SensorTran is committed to helping realize the promise of the Smart Grid, and joining the GridWise Alliance is a key step in our efforts to make this vision a reality.”

Source: SensorTran

Current Expands Smart Grid Solution With Acquisition Of Kreiss Johnson Technologies

CURRENT announced an expansion of its Smart Grid solution with the acquisition of Kreiss Johnson Technologies (KJT), a leading developer of analytic software for electric utilities. KJT's enterprise software solution uses artificial intelligence and advanced analytic techniques to transform the millions of fault, event, disturbance and other operational data points that utilities have historically been unable to collect or process into actionable intelligence the utility can use to improve the efficiency and reliability of the electric distribution grid.

"A Smart Grid provides significant benefits to the utility, its consumers and the environment" said Tom Casey, Chief Executive Officer of CURRENT. "We continue to invest significant resources to develop and acquire technology like KJT that can further bolster CURRENT's robust Smart Grid solution." A Smart Grid can improve reliability by creating a self-healing distribution network capable of matching supply with demand, efficiently manage peak loads, minimize power disruptions, secure critical infrastructure assets, and ensure high-quality power. The Electric Power Research Institute projects that Smart Grid-enabled distribution systems in the U. S. could reduce electricity consumption by 5% to 10%, carbon dioxide emissions by up to 25%, and the costs of power-related disturbances to business by 87%.

CURRENT is integrating KJT's Enterprise Analyst product, which will now be called CURRENT Analyst™, with its network monitoring and CURRENT LOOK ® software solutions to provide the utility with unprecedented power. "Combining KJT's and CURRENT's solutions allows a utility for the first time to analyze the millions of devices on the electric distribution grid and to automatically receive actionable intelligence about areas of concern based on user-defined criteria at the engineer's desktop," said David Kreiss, KJT's former Chief Executive Officer, who along with his staff has joined CURRENT. "This means that an engineer is automatically sent a detailed analysis of any potential problem by email or cell phone and can use our solution to see exactly what is happening both upstream and downstream on the grid without even leaving his or her desk." This capability should facilitate the sharing of critical data across the utility, improve the productivity of the utility engineering staff, and maximize the use of replacement capital while improving the efficiency and reliability of electric service. Existing KJT customers will be able to continue to receive full support with their installed solutions, as well as access to new modules developed by CURRENT.

Source: CURRENT

Energy Expert to Regulators and Utilities: “Just Do It”

To meet future power demand and provide quality, reliable electricity to American homes and businesses, policymakers and state regulators need to change the way electric power utilities do business now, Kurt Yeager, executive director of the Galvin Electricity Initiative, said Wednesday.

Speaking before an audience of federal and state regulators, utilities and other industry players as part of a keynote panel during the National Electricity Delivery Forum in Washington, D.C., Yeager said that the future of the U.S. electric power system rests upon our ability to take advantage of the technology available today and prioritizing the modernization of our unreliable, inefficient and insecure grid infrastructure.

"Our electric power system has been in a sub-prime mortgage-like era for decades," Yeager said. "There are no technological or economical obstacles to modernizing the U.S. electric grid, only policy and regulatory barriers that must be eliminated," said Yeager. "If states open up the electricity market and offer utilities incentives for integrating smart grid technology and giving consumers control of their own energy use, everyone will win. Consumers gain better service and a smaller carbon footprint while utilities gain much-needed upgrades and a system that is less vulnerable to cyber-attack."

During the panel discussion, Yeager shared some of the Initiative's key proposals that will pave the way for a more intelligent electricity grid:

The technology exists today to transform the 1950s-era grid into a smarter, reliable and efficient power system. To secure this future, state leadership is needed to remove the regulatory policy obstacles to smart grid development and implementation.

Utilities need incentives to drive grid modernization efforts. Utilities are compensated for selling more electricity, not for providing quality service or efficiency programs. States need to support "decoupling," or separating utilities' profits from their energy sales. Only then will utilities become motivated to offer consumers tools such as time-of-use pricing and smart meters that can reduce the escalating demand that is taxing our aging grid infrastructure, increasing emissions of dangerous pollutants. Consumers should be treated as individuals with individual needs. As with other industries that have been opened to competition and choice, given the option, most consumers will take control and reduce their energy use.

Renewable resources are an important part of our electricity generation mix, but they will not eliminate coal-generated or nuclear power. States should examine their available renewable resources for electricity generation - solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, etc. - and add them to their electricity generation portfolio. While the industry is addressing their greenhouse gas, waste and security issues, in order to meet our huge demand for electricity economically, coal and nuclear sources of electricity will remain the primary part of the generation mix. Carbon capture and sequestration has promise for yielding cleaner electricity from coal, but as a long-term goal, not a short-term solution. Since the volume of CO2 emitted by coal-fired plants that could be captured equals the amount of oil that is consumed in the United States yearly, finding a practical way to transport and store it is a complicated undertaking which is not receiving enough attention.

New transmission lines should be the last option. Technology currently exists to increase the capacity of the wires we have today. With the addition of "smart" electronic controls, transmission lines can run closer to their limits without risking overload. This will also minimize the major security and vulnerability risks that these extensive transmission networks pose to the nation today.

The National Electricity Delivery Forum is the preeminent national forum that examines and addresses the inherent infrastructure challenges and issues that impact electricity delivery. Sponsored annually by the National Association of Regulatory Utilities Commission (NARUC) and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (DOE), this forum addressed the role of U.S. electric power delivery in addressing the challenges of climate change, demand growth and energy security.
For more information about Perfect Power and the work of the Galvin Electricity Initiative, visit http://www.galvinpower.org/.

The Galvin Electricity Initiative, launched by former Motorola chief Robert W. Galvin, is leading a campaign to transform the nation's obsolete electric power system into one that can truly meet consumers' needs in this new century. Galvin's vision - a Perfect Power System that cannot fail the end-user - includes a major technological update as well as the development of smart microgrids that benefit consumers and suppliers alike. The first Perfect Power System is being built on the Illinois Institute of Technology campus. Learn more at http://www.galvinpower.org/.

Source: Galvinpower.org

Enersource Selects SmartGrid Solution from Intergraph and Siemens

Enersource Hydro Mississauga, one of the largest distributors of electricity in Ontario, Canada, has signed a deal with Intergraph to integrate and automate the various assets and functions of its power grid. The new SmartGrid implementation will result in greater efficiency and safety, as well as more reliable power to Enersource customers.

"Traditionally, we have been forced to work across multiple sources of information, including paper maps, to obtain a complete view of our distribution system," said Raymond Rauber, VP Engineering & Operations at Enersource Hydro Mississauga. "By working with Intergraph and Siemens to develop an Integrated Operating Model (IOM) for our power grid, we will be able to work more efficiently under both normal and storm conditions, as well as ensure that we are utilizing the most up-to-date, accurate information. The IOM implementation will allow us to meet the growing energy demands of tomorrow without sacrificing the exclusive service and safety we've been providing for the past 90 years."

Enersource's IOM solution will combine Intergraph's utilities applications with Siemens' Distribution System Power Flow (DSPF) application to create an integrated command-and-control system. Intergraph will fuse its InService outage management systems with geospatial and other data it provides on Enersource's infrastructure and 865,000 assets including transformers, utility poles, meters, conductors and others, as well as network devices, meters and other sensor data. In addition, Intergraph will combine information from Enersource's applications including its SCADA and customer information systems for use with the Siemens DSPF engine. Intergraph will then integrate all the data into a unified command-and-control system that will provide easily-visualized, actionable intelligence manifested in the form of alarms, events, work orders and other understandable activities, allowing for quick detection and remediation of outages and other potential issues.

Siemens' Distribution System Power Flow application provides utilities with real-time analysis to make operations decisions on-the-fly, thus allowing more efficient management of electricity across a dynamic grid. With the DSPF technology, utilities have increased knowledge of load and voltage conditions to help them more safely, quickly and reliably reconfigure their networks and restore power.

"Joining with Enersource marks a significant milestone in Intergraph's leadership of the SmartGrid movement," said Jay Stinson, vice president of Intergraph Utilities & Communications. "We first joined with Siemens in May 2007 to build a SmartGrid system for Oncor Electric Delivery. Since then, we have observed growing interest among leading utilities like Enersource in modernizing their systems with 'smart' or 'intelligent' power grid technologies. Moving forward, Intergraph and Siemens plan to work together to empower additional utilities with commercial off-the-shelf solutions for creating intelligent grids to meet emerging market needs."

"Siemens is pleased to further our efforts in SmartGrid technology through a continued relationship with Intergraph and a new agreement with Enersource," said Kevin Sullivan, vice president and general manager of Siemens Power Transmission & Distribution, Inc.'s Energy Management & Automation division. "The SmartGrid brings tremendous benefits to utilities, beginning with the reduction of and more efficient response to potentially-devastating outages, but also extending into many other key focus areas including cost savings, safety, environmental impact and the identification of potential security threats. In the future, the SmartGrid will play an invaluable role in helping utilities monitor the health of their networks and make better, faster, more informed decisions. "

Enersource also utilizes an Intergraph application for plant engineering document management and for the issuance of device numbers. Intergraph ensures an open, independent data storage system to protect plant information for the life of a plant. Through a combination of geospatial technologies, Intergraph will provide Enersource with a comprehensive set of applications for managing and acting on critical data - from plant design to distribution operations.
For decades, Intergraph has been leveraging its geospatial technology and deep industry expertise to help utilities companies visually organize and manage assets and resources. Intelligent grid technology from SmartGrid is the latest evolution of Intergraph's years of service to the utilities industry.

Source: Intergraph