RSS
Home
NIST presently setting grid connectivity backbone
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Right now at this very instant of time and for a very short period of time in the near future the standards for the transmission, formats and processes for all of the data handled in the Smart Grid are being written. Everything that proceeds for decades after this time will hinge on what we do in the next approximately 25 days.
My associate Paul Noel wrote the following.
|
I was just at Connectivity Week in Santa Clara, Ca. This was a very high profile conference of Industry, Government and Utility interests who are setting up the smart grid.
I need to give you a very strong heads up warning for everyone in the USA and for that matter around the world regards the status and developments here. There are very serious matters going down and they need our instant and very smartest and most determined responses and we must get onto this immediately.
I heard it once said that if a congressman chose to write law he might never get anything he wanted done, but if he wrote the rules for the meetings in the congress he would control everything. Right now at this very instant of time and for a very short period of time in the near future the standards for the transmission, formats and processes for all of the data handled in the Smart Grid are being written. Everything that proceeds for decades after this time will hinge on what we do in the next approximately 25 days. Time is of the essence and people must get up to speed on this matter. The critical entity controlling this will be the NIST. Their email is smartgridcomments@nist.gov. Educate yourself as much on this matter as you can before you comment.
The NIST is a standards organization. They are not particularly interested in policy but what they do will form the basis for how all policy is managed and graded by the public and regulatory agents. We must watch and direct their methodology in a cooperative and contributory fashion. It is not wise for the people of the USA to ignore the seriousness of what is going down here. It would also be unwise to be hostile.
 |
| A slide from NIST Smart Grid Standards Roadmap Project Goals (pdf), Apr. 23, 2009 |
Essentially here is what we must do in directing NIST standards. The standards must be written to require that data be transmitted with proper connection to reality including the true functional response to the status of the grid and that the formats provide audit trails for confirmation of this. We must drive home that any energy market data be open standards and always carry a firm attachment to the reality that drove the market and not just consumer demand. This is particularly important as energy markets as Enron ran milked the rate payers and utilities of California for $58 Billion for no real benefit. We must drive home that energy markets not be constructed that are methods to sell rather methods to trade. This means that the rate payers should pay a flat rate per KWH as a whole that is regulated. That energy markets should be a trading between users of the grid such that any gains from On Demand Peak buys should offset the costs of off peak power prices. In such a system the standards for data should include a matrix for such trades to be done. If the market is constructed where the Utility Generator or distributor profits from Peak market sale prices and no pro-rata decrease in rates happens it will be Enron time’s 50 states.
Our foreign rate payers should take severe interest here as well. The USA is writing the standards by which their business even in countries like China will be run. This is a world wide concern. All parties need to take seriously the issues here. If this is not done correctly, it will collapse the world economy worse than anything we have seen so far.
The NIST standards will be the metric and backbone for the entire system of Smart Grid technology. As I said they are NOT a policy agency. They are guiding how data bases and such are built. They are guiding how encryption and such is implemented.
In the matter of encryption, every party on earth should understand that if the encryption and fire wall standards are not done correctly, a simple hacker could take down whole nations once this is implemented. We need all good technical skill brought to bear here. Anyone interested should help. NOW is the time to talk. July 6, 2009 the comment period is going to be over. MOVE NOW! MOVE QUICKLY! MOVE SMART! This will be the most critical decision set done in the USA in the past 100 years or more. It is far more important than World War II or any other event. It is going to go down quietly and without normal citizen input unless you speak up now! The people who are running the driving force here are not all good players. NIST however is not the enemy. They should not be treated as such. They are good, kind and concerned people. We need to make them aware of the common interest.
Please focus on demands for open data handling and open data structures with audit trails. Please focus on the demand this not be done behind closed doors and that structures be built to respect our public interest and that this be built to support and encourage the entry of small business into the field. Otherwise this will be the biggest money grab and job destruction engine ever built. Please understand this is technical data specifications and not policy decisions. These specifications do form the matrix of support under all regulation and management of the power grids.
Now for some fun facts for people that were at Connectivity Week.
The power grids of the USA and for that matter it appears pretty much world wide waste 65% of all thermal generation capability due to peak load mismatch and poor demand load matching. (This isn’t the 65% that is lost due to thermal efficiency issues) This means that we have more than enough power to drive all of our cars and to do much more without adding a single KWH of generation to the system. The need for building a system that makes use of this “Low Hanging Fruit” is very much essential.
The switching of our loads to off peak times requires storage of energy. The public utilities are setting up for major commercial buildings in many locations to store on the roof ice for AC load balancing. This is buying energy off peak and using it on peak.
There is developing in many areas the potential for a very wise and smart management of electrical use including allowing you to set your home devices to buy power for your use at off peak times and to charge up electric cars similarly. These methods and devices represent massive energy savings to us all when applied.
There is developing wireless technology under the ZigBee standards which are in their infancy the ability for Home Area Networks allowing you to manage and know moment by moment your use. (This is also a NIST area of concern)
The processes for matching up your interests with the common interests of the generation grid are the whole issue of the system.
It is very likely that soon you will be able to set your clothes dryer to buy power when the price goes down late at night. Car charges are being set up this way already.
Smart meters are starting their roll out in the next few weeks in California and some other locations around the USA. A few locations already have them. Inside of a few years every location in the USA will have these smart meters.
We most definitely need a national backbone of high voltage energy transmission. The local grids are not connected well.
On the way to and from Connectivity Week I got to see from the airplane T Boone Pickens wind farm in West Texas. It is impressive already and clearly can be seen even from 32,000 Feet. (Assuming your eyes work good). I could see the big blades turning. I have seen the parts going down the interstate highway in Texas a few weeks back as well. These are really big machines.
# # #
See also
|
Related Articles:
Comments
