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The Smart Grid Concept
The term “smart grid” denotes a transformation of the electrical infrastructure. It's goal is to change the way electricity is used as well as to address several problems with the current system, including the high risk of excess demand (which can lead to brownouts and blackouts) and high energy bills for consumers.
Although the smart grid is evolutionary in its development and without a definitive group of ideas or devices, there are certainly some aspects of smart grid that could enhance transmission efficiency, enable improved end-use energy efficiency and facilitate increased use of renewable energy.
How It Works
A smart grid could allow utilities to charge consumers for electricity according to its real time production cost. This would mean higher electricity rates during periods of peak demand, which could encourage consumers to shift their electricity use to periods of lower demand, when it would be less expensive, or moderate or even forego certain uses of electricity altogether, such as air conditioning.
A smart grid envisions a two-way communication between electricity producers and consumers, allowing the consumers to better manage their electricity use and the producers to more efficiently allocate their resources. For example, consumers can set a target price for electricity, above which they will permit the power to certain appliances to be reduced or cut temporarily. Under this system, the consumers would also be able to establish a preference for energy generated from renewable sources.
The concept of a smart grid could also encompass a greatly expanded system of transmission lines, which could transport electricity greater distances. This could facilitate the transmission of renewable electricity, much of which is currently generated in rural areas far from where the power is consumed.
A smart grid could also enable net metering, whereby individual households and buildings can sell back to the grid any excess electricity that they generate (for instance, solar energy generated when the residents are away from home). This net metering capability could also contribute to the large-scale commercialization of electric vehicles by facilitating their use as back-up storage for electricity.
Smart Grid: The Forecast
Development of a smart grid is now one of the top U.S. energy policy priorities. Making the North American electricity grid “smart” will require considerable investment – that much is clear. The economic and environmental benefits of the smart grid will depend on the specific technologies and systems that it will entail; with careful design, these can help address many of the deficiencies in the current system.
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