November 13, 2009

(Part 2 of 2)

Galvin Electricity Initiative Executive Director Kurt Yeager outlined for us his picks of the SGIG winning projects that he believes can help drive the smart grid industry forward.  Of the 100 projects that DOE picked for grants -- out of 400 applications (SGT, Oct-28) -- fewer than 20 “have some real potential to demonstrate the consumer value of a smart grid.” Neither Yeager nor the Galvin Electricity Initiative has a financial relationship with firms and municipals mentioned in this article, Yeager assured us.

          We reported Yeager's picks in the AMI, Distribution Systems and Customer Systems categories Tuesday (SGT, Nov-10).  Now we look at his favorites in the Integrated Systems category -- projects focused on integrating supply and demand.

          “It remains to be seen what the utilities do with the money, but my expectation is these will be open enough that the communities involved will be able to work with the utilities” to become more empowered, said Yeager.

          A large number of the projects in this category are at municipal utilities, thus “they are integrated into the whole community,” he added.  “Those, to me, carry more potential at this stage of the policy evolution than do most of the IOU programs,” not just based on the details of the IOU projects but also because of the oversight of state regulatory commissions, said Yeager.  “That combination typically puts some boundaries on things.”

          Integrated Systems that caught Yeager's attention:

• Danvers, Mass, $8.5 million.  The town plans to deploy over 12,000 smart meters for its full customer base, upgrade cyber security systems and automate outage management and other distribution operations with the goal of achieving full interoperability between all of its various systems, a White House document reported.

• Fort Collins Utilities in Colorado, $18.1 million grant.  The city plans to install 79,000 smart meters and in-home DR systems including in-home displays, smart thermostats and AC and water heater control switches.  It plans to automate T&D systems and enhance grid security.
• Leesburg, Fla, $9.8 million grant.  The municipal utility plans to enable new energy efficiency and conservation programs to all 23,000 electric consumers via deployment of smart meter networks, energy management for city buildings, integrated DG and a new substation power transformer with enhanced monitoring and control, said the White House.  Consumer initiatives include time differentiated rates and DR options for cutting peak load.

          “Integrating DG is particularly important,” said Yeager.  “I don't see that brought out by too many of these projects.”

          The city began planning its smart grid initiative two years ago -- “developing a dream of lower power cost for its customers and increased system efficiency and this grant will position the city to make that dream come true for our customers very soon -- within two years,” City Manager Jay Evans told us this week.

          “Knowledge is power,” he added.  “With information about their own consumption, consumers will be able to respond when it counts the most.”

          To help shift demand to off-peak hours, Leesburg will use some of the ARRA money to pay for 1,000 home energy management systems.  Customers will be able to automatically shut off electric water heaters during peak energy use hours.

          Leesburg is looking forward to eventually cutting the “large capacity charge” it pays to the Florida Municipal Power Agency, said Evans.

          Leesburg still needs to determine how it will finance its part of the matching grant, Evans said.  A city commission still needs to address variable rates.  And tech partners will be chosen following the meeting Leesburg officials will have next week with DOE.

• Modesto Irrigation District in California, $1.5 million grant.  “They are emphasizing consumer education and outreach,” Yeager said.  “People really have to understand what can be done” with smart grid technology in place (see also our article titled “Grant-winning integrated systems now face ‘brass tacks'” in the Oct 30 issue of SGT).

• Naperville, Ill, $11 million grant.  The city is set to deploy more than 57,000 smart meters and install the infrastructure and software necessary to support and integrate various smart grid functions and the two-way flow of information between the utility and customers, the White House said.

• Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OGE) in Oklahoma City, $130 million grant.  The IOU is set to deploy a smart grid network that will provide 771,000 meters to all its customers, combining in-home technology with dynamic pricing programs -- and implement advanced DA technologies that will facilitate “self-healing” and power restoring properties on the grid, a White House document said.

          “They're incorporating in-home technology with dynamic price response programs and the in-home automation systems will make or break it,” Yeager said.  “Just giving people pricing signals” and expecting them “to sit around watching meters and throwing switches” is a recipe for failure, he added.  Once consumers have had the chance to work with automated systems, “they want it.”

          OGE is “breaking ground” for the IOU community, Yeager said.  “Ultimately, if it's going to work, it needs to work for the IOUs -- so we need some IOU leadership here” (see also “Oklahoma IOU plows ahead with system-wide project plans,” from the SGT issue dated Aug 25.)

• Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) in California, $127.5 million grant.  “They are making a big effort with PHEVs,” said Yeager.  “They're designing a system so it can employ PHEVs not only from a charging standpoint but from an energy storage and utilization standpoint.” SMUD's could be a “landmark” project, he added.

          SMUD plans to install a comprehensive regional smart grid system from transmission to the consumer that includes 600,000 smart meters, dynamic pricing, 100 electric vehicle charging stations and 50,000 DR controls, including programmable smart thermostats and home energy management systems, the White House said.

• Southwest Transmission Cooperative in Benson, Ariz, $32.2 million grant.  The co-op will upgrade and automate its transmission, distribution and customer service systems including smart meters for over 44,000 customers, the White House said.

          The utility will install communication and digital infrastructure to support the two-way flow of data between the utility and its customers, too, and that pleases Yeager.  “We're trying to encourage municipals and cooperatives to show leadership here,” he said.

• Vineyard Energy Project in West Tisbury, Mass, $787,250 grant.  “They interface with PHEVs and will deploy a range of not just grid technologies but smart appliances, so they are really integrating both sides of the meter and distributed and renewable resources,” said Yeager.