smart-grid

Progress Energy is moving forward with its plan to spend $500 million to upgrade two of its electric utilities in Florida and the Carolinas to a smart-grid system.

Together the two utilities provide electricity service to over 3.1 million customers. The Raleigh,N.C.-based company is paying for the upgrade in part with a $200 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The grant came out of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and is part of the high-profile push by the Obama administration and many state leaders to upgrade U.S. electric grids.… Read more

Building systems management giant Johnson Controls announced yesterday it has signed an agreement to acquire the EnergyConnect Group. EnergyConnect, based in Campbell, Calif., announced that this will be a cash deal totaling $32.3 million.

The demand response technology company EnergyConnect is best known for GridConnect, its software platform for enhancing electrical-grid efficiency, especially in the cases of regional shortages or peak pricing changes.

The system includes real-time monitoring of energy markets, as well as energy information.

"The $0.2253 per share acquisition price represents a significant cash premium of approximately 73 percent over the previous closing share price … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--The road to a secure smart grid is still being built. Can it be finished in time to keep next-generation threats at bay?

That question was left largely unanswered during a panel discussion on "securing the smart grid" at the RSA security conference taking place here this week.

The smart grid promises to bring a number of benefits to both consumers and utilities in the coming years--things like intelligent off-peak appliance use; real-time metering; and customer education on efficiency and conservation. But bringing that kind of experience to fruition is still a work in progress, with some … Read more

People will significantly conserve electricity during peak demand if given price incentives and tools to modify usage, according to a new study.

Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E), a utility company and a subsidiary of OGE Energy, announced this week the interim results of a study that was required as part of a $130 million grant from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. The utility used the grant to create a smart grid with 42,000 smart meters.

The study, conducted in conjunction with the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, consists of 3,000 OG&E consumers in Norman, … Read more

Southern California Edison announced yesterday it has added seven new community solar plants to its energy repertoire that together generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 8,125 households.

SCE now has a total of 10 community-size solar stations, a network of small neighborhood solar stations, which consist of mainly rooftop solar installations on local buildings, connecting to its grid.

Four community solar stations in Ontario, Calif., for example, consist of 32,950 photovoltaic panels installed on the rooftops of warehouses owned by ProLogis. SCE leased what amounts to about 1.8 million square feet of roof space from … Read more

With a multiday, multiregion storm impacting 100 million people over the next couple of days, solar roads that melt snow and ice seem less like a far-fetched pipe dream and more like an obvious investment. Engineers on opposite sides of the country are working to make that happen.

Solar Roadways in Boise, Idaho, received a contract from the Federal Highway Administration to build a solar road panel prototype, which was completed early last year. The 12x12-square-foot road designed by engineer and CEO Scott Brusaw is made out of panels encased in strong and durable glass with the traction of asphalt and that won't cause glare.

Each encased panel generates 7.6 kilowatt hours of electricity per day, and can be connected to smart grids to power homes and business. Wireless LED lights embedded in the glass create road signs and weight-sensitive crosswalks. They also contain heating elements that can melt snow and ice.

The technology to make snow plowing obsolete is similar to what's already used in automobile windshields. Heating elements in the glass melt existing snow or ice and prevent accumulation from developing. By preventing snow-related auto accidents and improving road access for emergency responders, the technology would save a lot of lives.

It could also save cities a lot of money. … Read more

Echoing concerns of security experts, a new report from the Government Accountability Office warns that smart-grid systems are being deployed without built-in security features.

Certain smart meters have not been designed with a strong security architecture and lack important security features like event logging and forensics capabilities used to detect and analyze cyberattacks, while smart-grid home area networks that manage electricity usage of appliances also lack adequate built-in security, according to the report (PDF) released last week by the GAO, the auditing and investigative arm of the U.S. Congress.

"Without securely designed smart-grid systems, utilities will be at … Read more

The Wi-Fi Alliance and HomePlug Powerline Alliance have joined forces to promote the adoption of powerline and Wi-Fi networking technologies in smart-grid applications, which could mean more streamlined connectivity for consumers.

The Wi-Fi Alliance tests and certifies Wi-Fi products, including Wi-Fi Direct, to ensure their interoperability, and the HomePlug Powerline Alliance does the same thing for powerline devices.

The agreement, announced today, enables cooperative efforts for the joint technical review of Wi-Fi Alliance's and HomePlug's specifications and standards that facilitate interoperability of smart-grid applications. Both parties will also promote the adoption of wireless and powerline technologies.

The collaboration … Read more

Google said today it's invested in a project called the Atlantic Wind Connection, an effort to create a 350-mile power transmission backbone linking wind turbines several miles offshore with sites along the East Coast.

The underwater cable, "a superhighway for clean energy" in Google's words, is designed to link multiple offshore wind farms to the U.S. power grid. The wind farms, which are separate from the backbone project, would be located 10 to 15 miles offshore so they would have strong wind and would be invisible from shore. Construction costs of the backbone project are … Read more