Smart Grids Could Power a 21st Century Economy

One of the great achievements of the 20th century was the creation and implementation of the U. S. electric grid. The deployment was so successful, for the latter decades most users did not think twice about electricity. Because electricity is inexpensive and available on demand, it is widely regarded as a driver of economic productivity and prosperity.

Most experts have a different view of the not-too-distant future. Peak demand (757,000 megawatts) is near capacity, and is expected to grow by 19% over the next decade; however, capacity is expected to grow by only 6%. Distribution is as much a part of the problem as generation - the wires and substations that connect electrical generators with consumers are also at or near capacity. The coming imbalance is expected to significantly stress the power grid. With rising fuel prices and other upward pricing pressures, electricity bills are expected to almost certainly increase.

Among power experts there is a consensus that continuing business as usual - building more plants, stringing more wires - is not really an option. Because power-generating capacity must meet peak demand, new capacity may sit idle except for certain times of the year, reducing return on investment. Lack of transmission and substation capacity may prevent electricity from new plants from reaching consumers. And everyone agrees that it would take too long to build new plants and transmission lines, if they could be built at all.

The Smart Grid is envisioned as a way to generate and distribute electricity for the next century. Today's grid that is relatively simple in operation: power is generated in such a way that there is enough to meet demand; however, there is very little way to coordinate production, get consumer feedback, or affect consumption. The Smart Grid relies on two-way communication to do these things, and more. Power industry analysts believe that the Smart Grid the only way to effectively integrate new power generation technologies, such as wind and solar, into the grid while matching supply to demand.

One benefit of the Smart Grid is demand response, allowing consumers to react to pricing signals in near real time. As the price of electricity changes over the course of the day, an advanced meter infrastructure (AMI) enables consumer to adjust demand. Many cities in the U. S. are using AMI to help them meet electrical demand, and more are evaluating such systems.

A wireless broadband network is a quick and cost-effective way to provide two-way communication for AMI. Tropos Networks is the leading provider of metro-scale wireless broadband networks. Many cities have used Tropos MetroMesh routers as the broadband communication network that connects every element of the automated metering infrastructure, and seeing proven benefits.

The Looming Problem
Today's electrical grid is a testament to the durability of 20th-century infrastructure, and is fairly simple and straightforward in the way it works. As shown in Figure 1, electricity is generated, then transmitted and distributed to wholesale, business, and retail users.

Figure 1: The electrical grid consists of power generating, transmission, and distribution capabilities, as well as consumers.

This straightforward design has been scaled up to be the largest power system in the world. With over 800,000 MW of installed capacity, America has more than twice the generating capacity of China, the next largest producer. According to the U. S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the electricity generated in America in 2006 (the latest available at the time of this writing) comes from many sources, but is primarily carbon-based.