It’s time to get smart
News Room | Columns by CUB's Executive Director | It’s time to get smart
November 15, 2009—Legend has it that a bank executive once lectured Henry Ford's lawyer that "the horse is here to stay."
That's the kind of sluggish thinking we're trying to avoid as Illinois builds a "smart grid"—the umbrella term for new technology that could improve energy efficiency across the electricity system, reduce power outages, and save billions of dollars.
The current power grid is a workhorse in its own right—one of the most complicated inventions of the 20th Century, and it has performed amazingly well. But the technology behind it hasn't changed much in the last 100 years, and it's in dire need of a high-tech makeover to help keep prices and pollution in check.
In October, state regulators took a step in the right direction by approving a pilot program requiring ComEd to test smart-grid improvements in about 131,000 homes in Chicago and nine suburbs, including Oak Park.
A true smart grid makes it easy to be energy efficient. It allows for smarter appliances that automatically power down to take a big bite out of costly "vampire power." It's scary, but up to 10 percent of your energy is wasted by appliances that suck power even when not operating.
A smarter grid also opens the door to special pricing programs that reward customers with lower rates when they reduce their energy usage. And "smart meters" would help ComEd detect power outages immediately without first getting a call from a customer—slashing their length and cost.
The key to a true smart grid, however, is maintaining open access that sparks a new entrepreneurial spirit. The makers of new Internet products such as Google or Facebook didn't have to ask for permission to launch their ground-breaking inventions. Likewise, the utilities shouldn't be allowed to stifle the next Mr. Edison who, for example, invents a smart-grid device that eliminates vampire power. Like I said, that alone could reduce energy usage nationwide by 10 percent.
So far, ComEd is moving in the right direction and I'm excited about the potential to lower prices and give people more power over their bills. Of course, ComEd has a potential conflict of interest problem—implementing a program that encourages efficiency while being owned by a generator (Exelon) that profits when people use more power. That's why we must monitor the program to make sure ComEd customers don't get slapped with a bill without the benefits.
It's also important to test what works—and what doesn't—to maximize the smart grid's consumer value. That's how we build a brighter future that protects us from skyrocketing prices and flips the switch on innovation. It's time to get smart.
That's the kind of sluggish thinking we're trying to avoid as Illinois builds a "smart grid"—the umbrella term for new technology that could improve energy efficiency across the electricity system, reduce power outages, and save billions of dollars.
The current power grid is a workhorse in its own right—one of the most complicated inventions of the 20th Century, and it has performed amazingly well. But the technology behind it hasn't changed much in the last 100 years, and it's in dire need of a high-tech makeover to help keep prices and pollution in check.
In October, state regulators took a step in the right direction by approving a pilot program requiring ComEd to test smart-grid improvements in about 131,000 homes in Chicago and nine suburbs, including Oak Park.
A true smart grid makes it easy to be energy efficient. It allows for smarter appliances that automatically power down to take a big bite out of costly "vampire power." It's scary, but up to 10 percent of your energy is wasted by appliances that suck power even when not operating.
A smarter grid also opens the door to special pricing programs that reward customers with lower rates when they reduce their energy usage. And "smart meters" would help ComEd detect power outages immediately without first getting a call from a customer—slashing their length and cost.
The key to a true smart grid, however, is maintaining open access that sparks a new entrepreneurial spirit. The makers of new Internet products such as Google or Facebook didn't have to ask for permission to launch their ground-breaking inventions. Likewise, the utilities shouldn't be allowed to stifle the next Mr. Edison who, for example, invents a smart-grid device that eliminates vampire power. Like I said, that alone could reduce energy usage nationwide by 10 percent.
So far, ComEd is moving in the right direction and I'm excited about the potential to lower prices and give people more power over their bills. Of course, ComEd has a potential conflict of interest problem—implementing a program that encourages efficiency while being owned by a generator (Exelon) that profits when people use more power. That's why we must monitor the program to make sure ComEd customers don't get slapped with a bill without the benefits.
It's also important to test what works—and what doesn't—to maximize the smart grid's consumer value. That's how we build a brighter future that protects us from skyrocketing prices and flips the switch on innovation. It's time to get smart.