As Standards Evolve, Smart Grid Eyes IP

Celeste LeCompte
Monday, April 20, 2009
2 Responses

Standards for smart energy technology were all over the Green:Net conference last month, and the issues raised at our event hit the news this week, as government agencies started pushing the standards ball forward. While some players say they'd like to see the market chart the course on standards, urgency surrounding global warming and utility timelines may force the discussion toward Internet protocol. […]

Question of the Week

What are the potential pitfalls of using IP as the smart-grid standard of choice?

Featured Responses

Stacey Higginbotham

2009/05/14 at 18:14

The danger of IP is that it's open and relatively insecure if you're talking about the power infrastructure. If we go with that, then we'll have to build security into the network -- something that may need standards and committees on its own.

GM: Let’s Hash Out Open Plug-In Car Standards

It's been a week of standards news, and we may be in for week two of all standards all the time. My bet: we'll be hearing about standards development for time better measured in months than weeks.

Submitted by Celeste LeCompte
CPUC Holds Symposium on Creating a Smarter Electric Grid for California

Just in case anyone wants to attend or check out the video webcast!

Submitted by Celeste LeCompte
Netbook Chips Create a Low-Power Cloud — MIT Technology Review

Interesting to the cloud crowd, especially those of us with an interest in how to leverage the cloud for shrinking the environmental footprint of computing. We're taxing current technology, from the silicon to the software, with massive data demands, and technology like this is a piece of the solution, I'm guessing.

Submitted by Celeste LeCompte
Next Step for the Smart Grid: Winning Over Consumers — Earth2Tech

Josie's look at the role of consumer acceptance in advancing the smart grid is a good one — a clear-eyed look at what the issues are and what utilities are doing to address them. That said, I'm curious to know if you all agree that customer benefit should be "top line," ahead of making it "a sustainable business for the utility." I'm not sure I do.

Submitted by Celeste LeCompte
Wireless smart grid firm Nighthawk posts record 2008

No wonder all those wireless companies want a piece of the action. While everyone else is floundering in this economic climate, smart grid companies are moving along, sometimes at a brisk pace. This provider's reporting doubled revenues from 2007 (though this report doesn't say how big or small those revenues were).

Submitted by Celeste LeCompte