NTS Smart Grid Blog

Protests Halt PG&E’s ‘Smart’ Meters for 3rd Day in a Row

Derek — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:28:31 +0000

For the third straight morning, outraged Santa Cruz County residents gathered at the gates of Wellington Energy at 38th and Portola in Capitola, successfully blocking what they say is a forced installation of radiating ‘smart’ meters against the will of residents and nearly two dozen local governments throughout the Greater Bay Area. This morning, about [...]

Smart meters raise questions

Derek — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:27:33 +0000

With more than 100,000 smart meters installed in Norman, Moore and portions of south Oklahoma City thus far, the state’s largest electric company is well on its way to converting its service area into a smarter, more efficient power grid. OG&E spokesman Brian Alford said all of OG&E’s customers in Norman and Moore have had [...]

BT sets its sights on smart meter gains

Derek — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:26:43 +0000

BT is drawing up plans to win the rights to provide a key component for the Government’s multi-billion pound plan to introduce smart meters, designed to cut carbon emissions and slash energy bills, across the country. The telecoms giant will announce today that it has teamed up with transmission group Arqiva and technology consultant Detica [...]

Energate deploys home energy and demand response solution in Ontario

Derek — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:25:59 +0000

Energate entered into an agreement with the Ontario Power Authority to be a key delivery partner in the Ontario pilot deployment of residential and small commercial demand response solutions. Energate is a provider of demand response and home energy management solutions for utilities and their customers. via Energate deploys home energy and demand response solution [...]

Town of Arnprior tries to build bridge over troubled water bills

Derek — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:25:15 +0000

Many Arnprior residents got quite a shock when they received their most recent water bill and saw how much it said they owned the municipality. Arnprior town council was under fire during the Aug. 23 meeting as more than 25 people expressed frustration with water bills that, in some cases, were three times what they [...]

Mountain View couple confronts PG&E over SmartMeters

Derek — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:23:51 +0000

The biggest complaint about SmartMeters is the huge spike in bills that many have seen. That was certainly the case for a Mountain View family and so far, there is no explanation. An angry homeowner confronted a PG&E spokesperson about her SmartMeter back in June. PG&E originally insisted there was nothing wrong with it, but [...]

2 Million Smart Meters Installed in the U.S.

Derek — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 01:21:30 +0000

The Energy Department announced that over 2 million smart meters have beed installed across the country. Cisco and power meter maker Itron announced they will team up to develop Internet Protocol-based communications for the power grid. via Apollo Daily Digest » Blog Archive » September 2, 2010: 2 Million Smart Meters Installed in the U.S..

Onzo and SEE reveal plan for smart heat meters

Derek — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:20:24 +0000

Smart meters capable of measuring and managing a building’s electricity use in real time are becoming increasingly common, but to date there has been little progress in the development of smart devices for managing the use of heat. That looks set to change after smart meter developer Onzo and energy giant Scottish & Southern Energy [...]

Smart meters to save $5bn: report

Derek — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:19:45 +0000

The Brumby government’s troubled $2 billion smart meter rollout has been given a ringing endorsement by an independent economic analysis, which found it to be ”cost effective no matter which mix of costs and benefits are used”. The Oakley Greenwood report, to be released today, found that the benefit of rolling out the smart meters [...]

Probe finds no problems with PG&E’s Smart Meters but criticizes roll out

Derek — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:19:11 +0000

A long-awaited investigation into PG&E’s Smart Meters has found that the residential meters being installed in millions of California homes are “consistent with industry standards and performing accurately.” But the report blasted PG&E for its customer services practices, finding that the San Francisco-based utility did not adequately address customer complaints and concerns about the new [...]

Saving the Planet With the Flick of a Switch

Derek — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:38:57 +0000

I’m beginning to think that even Sarah Palin’s “real Americans” are starting to get it. Granted, it is taking manmade ecological disasters like the BP oil spill to nudge the masses along, but even from my perch on the outskirts of traditionally enviro-resistant Motor City, it is apparent to me that the American masses have [...]

ComEd seeks homes for solar panel test

Derek — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 05:35:34 +0000

ComEd said will letters go out this week to single family homeowners in the innovation corridor along I-290 – which includes 130,000 customers in Melrose Park, Bellwood, Maywood, River Forest, Oak Park, Forest Park, Broadview, Hillside, Berwyn and the Humboldt Park section of Chicago – asking for single-family homeowners to test solar panels. The three-year [...]

Taking control of electricity costs

Derek — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 03:32:13 +0000

Vancouverites are the first in line for Nissan’s new LEAF electric car in 2011 — a year before global distribution. BC Hydro is gearing up for their arrival, blanketing the city with smart meters and upgrading its electricity grid to support the charging needs of the LEAF. Whether this car is a success, however, depends [...]

ComEd Proposes Innovative Plan to Modernize the Illinois Electric System and Assist Low-Income Households

Derek — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 01:31:15 +0000

ComEd plans to propose an innovative approach to modernize the Illinois electricity system, stimulate economic development and create jobs. In a proposal expected to be filed later today with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), ComEd will propose a pilot program that would allow for accelerated modernization of the distribution system, increased assistance to low-income households [...]

Government may incentivise use of ‘smart’ metres

Derek — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:29:10 +0000

The government is likely to incentivise the use of smart metres at homes, enabling users to monitor their power consumptions in real time and save on electricity bills by over 15 percent, officials said. A smart metre is a device that uses smart grid technology, which integrates power generators and consumers to balance supply and [...]

Grid-Scale Energy Storage Market to Reach $35 Billion by 2020, According to Pike Research

Derek — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 21:28:23 +0000

The stationary energy storage sector will play an increasingly larger role in the electricity grid of the future. Demand is being driven by several key trends including the proliferation of renewable energy from variable sources such as wind and solar, the expansion of utility smart grid initiatives, and the introduction of plug-in hybrid and electric [...]

Midwest Wind Summit Focuses on Policy, Infrastructure & Smart Grid

Derek — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:27:31 +0000

This year has marked the first year in several that wind installation in the U.S. is on the decline. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) reported in July in that only 700 megawatts (MW) of wind energy were added in the second quarter of this year. This is down 57 percent from 2008 and 71 [...]

The Smart Grid Threat That’s Even Bigger Than Security

Derek — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:26:40 +0000

You’d be forgiven for thinking that with the recent excitement over the Stuxnet virus and other cyber threats, that this blogger believes security issues present the biggest challenge to the success of a national Smart Grid. But there’s something else that threatens the grand Smart Grid project on an even more fundamental level: We all have [...]

Fear, loathing and smart meters

Derek — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:15:52 +0000

Our Monday coverage of the decision to go forward with “smart,” computerized electricity meters for BGE customers got a lot of reaction, much of it negative toward smart meters. This is not necessarily representative. People with complaints are usually the ones who pipe up; those who are glad or don’t care don’t take the trouble [...]

Transpower launches smart grid project for upper North Island

Derek — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:15:20 +0000

Transpower is going ahead with a new multi-million dollar smart grid project aimed to help relieve pressure on the upper North Island electricity system at times of high demand. The project will use intelligent smart grid technology, which allows electricity supply to participating businesses to be adjusted remotely, under agreed conditions. via Transpower launches smart [...]