Environmental Magazine: If We Want to Move Beyond Disastrous Oil Spills, We Need a Smart Grid

NORWALK, Conn., July 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The July/August 2010 issue of E – The Environmental Magazine (now posted at: www.emagazine.com) offers what many experts now deem a rational solution to our continued dependence on fossil fuels, and a way to potentially head off the offshore oil exploration that has resulted in the worst oil spill in the nation's history: a national "smart grid." The smart grid would be an updated, digital version of our century-old network of electric power lines — and would allow power plants to respond, in real time, to electricity needs.

With a smart grid, reports E Magazine, we could usher in a new era of renewable energy, from solar panels and wind turbines to electric cars — with a grid capable of accepting power from a variety of smaller, intermittent sources, and able to transmit power over longer distances. The smart grid would also give consumers real control over their energy usage and costs, as they will be able to program their appliances and thermostats from cell phones and laptops, track their home energy use online, and save on energy bills when they run appliances at more efficient times of the day.

"The smart grid will allow distributors, meters, and even appliances to communicate with each other, while providing customers with information, tools, and pricing options to manage their energy costs and usage," says James Robb, senior vice president for enterprise planning and development at New England's largest energy supplier, Northeast Utilities.

Can We Afford Not to Build the Smart Grid?

E's in-depth smart grid coverage includes a look at how much our outdated electrical system is costing us. Blackouts, which are becoming more common, have enormous financial repercussions: $20 trillion in losses during a 2000 blackout in Chicago, for example, and $6 billion lost during the 2003 Northeast blackouts. And our nation's electricity needs are climbing: Demand for electricity is expected to double by 2050, while the cost of raw materials needed to operate the current grid has tripled since 2006, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

The planning for smart grid implementation has begun at both the national and state level, but not without some concerns. Privacy advocates are worried that home energy monitoring devices could be used to monitor residents.

The Smart Grid Experiments

Widespread smart grid implementation is still years away, but pilot projects have shown just how possible a smart grid is:

• With its "Plan-it Wise" program, utility Connecticut Light & Power studied 3,000 participants, and learned that residential customers who used smart grid technologies reduced energy consumption by 16.1%.

• In Boulder, Colorado, utility company Xcel Energy has launched "SmartGridCity" — laying a network of fiber-optic cables underground that allows information about conditions on the electrical grid to flow multidirectionally. More than 50,000 homes and businesses in Boulder are scheduled to be connected to the smart grid, with participants installing smart meters that program their home energy use through an online site, where they can watch exactly how much energy they consume.

• In Austin, Texas, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has launched the "Pecan Street Project," a community-wide collaboration involving a local utility, universities, nonprofits, a chamber of commerce, and local government that's set to "reinvent the current energy delivery system."

Right now, the U.S. leads the world in smart grid development — but remains years behind in implementation. E's coverage looks at what the future might hold if our nation finds the political will to overhaul its energy infrastructure, examines some of the latest in smart appliances from General Electric (GE), and explains how the smart grid would accommodate and compliment a growing fleet of hybrid and electric vehicles.

Now that the environmental costs of our oil habits have been made clear, the time for the smart grid may have finally arrived.

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E - The Environmental Magazine distributes 50,000 copies six times per year to subscribers and bookstores. Its website, www.emagazine.com, enjoys 150,000 monthly visitors. E also publishes EarthTalk, a nationally syndicated environmental Q&A column distributed free to 1,850 newspapers, magazines and websites throughout the U.S. and Canada (www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek). Single copies of E's July/August 2010 issue are available for $5 postpaid from: E Magazine, P.O. Box 469111, Escondido, CA 92046. Subscriptions are $29.95 per year, available at the same address.

SOURCE E-The Environmental Magazine