We Don't Need No Smart Grid Education

Wrong. If you've ever taken the time to read beneath the articles about Smart Meter vulnerabilities or other looming forms of grid insecurity, you'll suspect that the teaming masses, at least those who read these pieces and have the gumption to respond, are intensely opposed to the whole Smart Grid idea. Here's a couple of random selections for you culled from a recent article on Smart Meter "holes":

Random Comment #1:

We have a smart meter on our home. So far, the only thing that it has been able to do is let me monitor my weekly consumption and get weekly updates on my projected monthly bill. Any savings that I get for off-peak usage has been eaten up by rate increases by my electric utility. As far as I can see, the only thing these meters will do is enhance the profits of the utility companies by letting them sell their power more efficiently. In the long run, it's not really helping the consumer in the wallet.

Random Comment #2:

Wait a minute. Everyone here has missed the point. If I can hack your meter and shut off your power, there is nothing stopping me from shutting off your neighborhood, your town, city, etc. These things are all connected - to each other and to the mother-ship. A hacker isn't interested in turning off your coffee maker, he wants to own all the meters in the city.

Imagine:

Hacker: Give me $10m or I'm going to shut down Seattle

Seattle: Go jump in a lake

Hacker: brings down the city for 2 minutes

Hacker: Wire the money within 60 min or I'll shut down the city for 24 hours.

Seattle: Where would you like it?

Where's Jack Bauer when you need him, eh?

Is the Smart Grid a scheme dreamed up by utilities to rob us blind? No. Are steps being taken to ensure that Smart Meters and the Smart Grid are secure? Yes. But the average consumer, if he/she takes the time to read about the Smart Grid, sees ten negative messages for every positive one. Jack and I have been advocating for much more and better messaging and education to consumers on the who/what/why/when and how's of the Smart Meters that are landing on their houses, and the Smart Grid drivers that have set this all in motion. See: the Smart Grid Confidence Game.

In the "National Power Grid that Thinks" by Alex Kingsbury of US News and World Report, we get a concise statement demonstrating Kingsbury's spot-on situational awareness of the present state of the Smart Grid's image:

Smartening the public is as critical as smartening the grid itself.

We couldn't agree more. Too much is made of the technology and too little effort (by far) is spent educating and socializing the public re: the coming Smart Grid. To that end, we urge the recently formed Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative to pump up the volume asap.

Image Credit: Flickr Creative Commons

Inviting Smart Grid Consumers to the Dance

I may miss a few, but the list of the biggest threats to the success of the emerging Smart Grid includes:

• Complex technology
• Well equipped, sophisticated attackers and other bad actors
• Pressure to deploy ahead of still-forming standards
• Immature or hastily conceived business plans/model
• Aging equipment and aging workforces
• Organizational and cultural rifts inside utility companies (e.g., IT vs. operational)
• Inter-state legal and other jurisdiction challenges

But perhaps the greatest is also the simplest to understand and articulate: achieving real two-way communications between utilities and their customers. And I'm not talking about bi-directional digital networks; I'm talking old school ... meaning starting from zero and taking deliberate steps to forge and maintain real working relationships between providers and customers.

Maybe a little bit on the late-side (considering the recent, less-than-optimal experiences of PG&E, Xcel and Oncor customers) but better late than never, this article in Smart Grid News announces the formation of the non-profit Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative (SGCC).

It's going to take more than this to get the word out. Many worldly and well educated peers in other sectors still draw a blank when they hear the term. Others have heard of the Smart Grid, but don't have the foggiest notion of what it is or why it's coming. I know because because, to their chagrin, I ask folks all the time. The formation of the SGCC isn't a full solution to the Smart Grid customer communications challenge by any means, but it sure smacks of a move in the right direction.

You can visit the SGCC site here and we recommend you do.

Photo Credit: The Seattle Municipal Archives on Flickr

First Mover Disadvantage in Smart Gridland

It's been proven that it works in chess and as everyone knows, like a charm in tic tac toe. In the business world, according to Wikipedia, first mover advantage: "... is the advantage gained by the initial occupant of a market segment. This advantage may stem from the fact that the first entrant can gain control of resources that followers may not be able to match."

Well, as you know, in the heavily regulated utility sector, it's not exactly a cut-throat competition. In fact, it's not a competition at all. But that doesn't mean it's not worth watching who's out of the gate first with AMI and Smart Meter deployments, who's received Smart Grid Investment Grant (SGIG) funds and is now obligated to deploy something of significant size, and who's holding back, keeping their powder dry.

The earliest of early movers (you know who you are in that big state just north of the Rio Grande) who began their own experimenting long before the SGIGs were a twinkle in the current administrations' eyes are probably best positioned to make the right Smart Grid technology deployment decisions at the times and places of their choosing. But the new first movers, the 100 or so SGIG grantees, who are making deployments now of thousands or millions of residential Smart Meters, are, IMHO, in a less than optimal position.

They are choosing hardware, software and communications tech well before most of the relevant standards (including security) have settled. Are moving before their customers, in some cases, are fully in tune with what's going on and how it will impact their bills or their service. They've often asked for rate relief to fully fund these deployments and may well be asking for more in an unfortunately short amount of time when it turns out they've placed bets on the wrong vendor and standards horses.

From speaking with analysts, utilities, and some of their providers, my sense is: laggards may have a real advantage here. How's that you say? Here's how:

• As long as they are active and attentive laggards, waiting, watching and learning, they may come to thank their lucky stars that their SGIG proposals were not selected
• They can tinker with residential pilots that number in the tens or hundreds of meters, vs. thousands and millions
• They'll have a longer lead time to educate and prepare their customers for coming changes
• And laggard utilities will be able to select and deploy, with far more confidence than they can in early 2010, technologies based on a more mature, settled standards landscape

As the Latin proverb says, "Fortune favors the bold". Or maybe Bill Shakespeare has the words most appropriate here: "Discretion is the better part of valor." For the moment, hold your course laggards, but watch, learn, and get ready for your turn.

Photo Credit: CarbonNYC / David Goehring @ Flickr

Martin LaMonica Asks a Very Good Smart Grid Question

Boston-based CNET energy writer LaMonica asks "Are Consumers Ready for the Smart Grid?" ... and by asking, largely answers.