June 28, 2009 – Very nice piece on how IBM looks at the Grid opportunities (plus video).

http://tinyurl.com/dj7krd

 

June 28, 2009- Utilities are losing their best(?) executives to smart grid start-ups and companies. Who will be promoted into the key grid slots at the utilities? If a recent conference I attended is indicative it will be engineers from areas where they have contact/expertise  with smart metering. This will have some negative implications as in my recent attempt to talk to one of these engineers about how consumers make a decision…”we do not have to worry about that. If we tell them what to do they will do it. It’s the technology that is important after all. ” OMG

http://tinyurl.com/mb5jlo

 

June 28, 2009- Technical priorities of the grid.

http://tinyurl.com/mqy3gz

 

June 28, 2009 – There is a wiki page to encourage collaboration on smart grid national issues.

http://collaborate.nist.gov/twiki-sggrid/bin/view/SmartGrid/WebHome

see also  http://collaborate.nist.gov/twiki-sggrid/bin/view/SmartGrid/DecReport

 

June 28, 2009-  Interesting blog piece about the revolutionary impact of GM’s Volt. The success of the initial 5-10 years of the Volt will rest on the taxpayer’s willingness to subsidize it on the manufacturing and consumer end. Consumers will simply not pay 40k for a 40 mile car.  Yes…there will be a small group of hard core values driven consumes who have the money to buy it but this is not enough to sustain a revolution. We need cars to go to soccer games, visit friends, parent, and go to dinner 60 miles away. We pay 20k for a car that reasonably allows us to do that. We will not buy 2 cars to do what we now can pay 50% of the Volt’s cost for 1 car to do what is needed in our lives. Over the long term we have a revolution but the technology will need years and years of development. It might not be the Volt by then. I have been wrong before (Go Mets).

http://www.acus.org/new_atlanticist/gm-2025-will-general-motors-survive-revolution-energy-affairs

June 28, 2009- “Energy experts gathered at the Virtual Energy Forum to discuss concerns with smart grid technology that need to be addressed.  The forum is a free conference that brings together energy industry stakeholders twice a year.  This time the participants considered the role of the consumer within a smart grid.”  Day 1- the consumer…Day 2 –smart appliances.

  -archived presentations are available on demand

Here is the problem. The IBM speaker talked about educating the consumer …research shows that if you think education is a brochure or a website or a booklet…IT WILL NOT WORK.  Consumers do not want education they want an easy and simple way to get a benefit.

As for smart appliances…let’s take two GE refrigerators side by side…the same…except one is a smart appliance and one is the regular appliance. The regular appliance will win because consumers will not pay $500 more for the smart appliance…SORRY not going to happen now…maybe in the future.

http://tinyurl.com/l5yuo5

 

June 28, 2009- GE is building a research facility in Detroit that will be a research and development center for the grid and clean energy.  It really is all about jobs. What kind of country do we have that has 11% unemployment (actual unemployment is probably higher). What kind of country do we have that incentivizes companies to maximize profit by minimizing employees? CEOs should feel the shame.

http://tinyurl.com/kt8ojz

 

June 28, 2009- Silver Spring Networks will build out Sacramento by 2011.

http://cleantechbrief.com/node/660

 

June 28, 2009- Another information piece on DOE’s initial release of money for the Smart grid. (see entries  in the June 27, 2009 section)

http://tinyurl.com/npb7s8

 

June 28, 2009- JR from Lisbon writing the Rick’s Café American blog thinks the smart grid can be big. Nooooooooooooooooooo

http://tinyurl.com/nhhohk

 

June 28, 2009-  OK here goes…Cap and Trade…smart grid…consumers getting hosed. Enough said.

http://tinyurl.com/n4ehsw

June 27, 2009- This one falls in the category of …if Microsoft is doing it maybe I should too. The Holm software (this is good stuff including video) is supposed to help consumers make smart decisions with their smart meters of their smart grid. 

Let us all say  WWMD  (what would Microsoft do). If Microsoft is interested in the Smart Grid …well maybe we all should be too.

http://tinyurl.com/m4xo6u

 

June 27, 2009 –  AT&T has smart sensor devices that work over AT&T’s wireless network.  Can you feel your heart go pitter patter?

http://tinyurl.com/m5n45r

http://tinyurl.com/lyqvqd

 

 

June 27, 2009 – Come and get it. You and every utility and vendor in the country will be trying to get their piece of the DOE’s  3.9B stimulus money release (with more to come). Large projects and small projects…nice quick summary. I do not think there will be much lets hold hands and sing Kumbiyar (or as spell check says Lumbar) as you all trample each other to get your piece.

http://www.reuters.com/article/earth2Tech/idUS13349993920090625

Here’s a longer piece with more links (and I know how excited you get with linking)

http://tinyurl.com/kowj9e

 

June 27, 2009-  You gotta have standards…interesting links

http://tinyurl.com/nlaf7q

 

June 27, 2009 – If you want to get a glimpse of the smart grid in the second wave of functionality  read this document by Zigbee…interesting.

http://www.zigbee.org/smartenergy

June 15 2009-  Oracle claims to have software that will allow the benefits of the smart grid implementation to be realized well before deployment.  While the paper is interesting  (because the software functionality is interesting) the Oracle blog is quite interesting also with information about a whole range of issues.

The functionalities and respective links are:

• Oracle® Utilities Network Management System – Integrates with advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), allowing utilities to proactively respond to outages and be more precise when providing consumer alerts and notifications – enabling the smart meter to send a “last gasp” message to report a power loss thus eliminating the need for a customer to report the outage. Oracle Utilities Network Management System also supports automated isolation of faulted feeder sections and the re-energizing of un-faulted sections, minimizing sustained outages. Its integrated distribution capability supports the continual assessment of power delivery and available feeder capacity in a distribution network that optimizes operations.
• Oracle® Utilities Customer Care and Billing – Allows utilities to harness the benefits of new smart grid technologies and AMI, such as two-way communications, to better contain operational costs and control consumer energy demand through conservation and time-based pricing programs, as well as improve customer service and environmental awareness. It can provide customers with a clear picture of the relationship between their consumption and environmental impact, then offer service options to help change behavior.
• Oracle® Utilities Load Analysis – Performs peak load analysis, including coincidental peak demand analysis by customer rate class. This solution also balances premise level loads to system loads, incorporating variable, fixed losses and unaccounted for energy.
• Oracle® Utilities Work and Asset Management – Provides complete asset lifecycle management, which can ultimately extend the life of aging assets, enable utilities to manage network renewal projects, and enhance cost control and visibility while improving system reliability and customer service. In addition, by monitoring and performing maintenance on a timely basis, utilities can reduce the environmental impact resulting from equipment failure.
• Oracle® Utilities Mobile Workforce Management – Supports efforts to ensure service availability and automate field operations via dispatch, scheduling and routing. It provides field workers the optimal route with the least mileage and fewest truck rolls, which helps reduce fuel consumption, highway congestion and tailpipe emissions.
• Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management – Provides a centralized, robust system to support smart grid and green initiatives by connecting AMI usage data and presentment tools, so consumers can view their usage – allowing them to make informed conservation decisions. Utilities can also configure the application to support demand response programs including: customer recruitment, event planning, event notification and compliance.
• Oracle® Hyperion Performance Management applications and Oracle® Primavera applications – Leverage comprehensive performance and project management functionality to enable the planning, scheduling and installation of utility-controlled renewable devices – such as solar panels on homes and buildings.
• Oracle Database – Scales to tackle exponential growth in data and enables utilities to more effectively manage network operational data to improve performance.
• Oracle Governance, Risk and Compliance – Simplifies compliance with NERC (North American Electric Reliability Corporation) and FERC (U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) with an enterprise GRC platform for standards and policy documentation; risk-based assessment; and closed-loop remediation, certification, and reporting. Integrated controls monitoring also enforce segregation of duties to reduce the risk of improper access and fraudulent activities.

BTW- I am not paid or have no connection to Oracle although I am willing to listen

http://tinyurl.com/mzhmay

 

June 15 2009- The Oracle blog (above) also links to an Oracle survey of consumers and what they are looking for. “Turning Information Into Power: Moving Toward the Smart Grid,” the vast majority of consumers surveyed reported concern about the energy costs at their primary residence and are interested in receiving more detailed information about their energy use. Also, utilities managers surveyed believe it is critical that the United States adopt smart grid technologies. However, only 16 percent of the utilities surveyed have begun the implementation of smart grid technologies”

June 14, 2009- The electric car will be the killer app for the smart grid for the electric car will be both a great user and great provider of energy to the system. For those of you from Indiana….the electric car when fully charged can be used to sell back energy to the system. In addition, the consumer and the utility will have to educate the consumer to charge their electric cars at low price times and the smart grid is the way to do this. Unfortunately, the electric car is , in the short term, going to be a failure unless : (because people will not spend 30-40k for a 40 miles car).

1. It is mandated
2. The state and city and federal vehicles fleets switch
3. WalMart and mall owners (maybe downtown districts) be brought on board so that recharging possible while shopping.

http://tinyurl.com/n8czaj

 

June 14, 2009- The smart grid is more than about electricity…it is about a cleaner planet and includes the monitoring of water.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/green/?p=5483

 

June 14 2009-  The ArmChair Ecologist does not believe that the Grid is a big enough step.

http://planet-u.com/blog/2009/06/take-action-to-make-an-act-stronger/

 

June 14, 2009- Do you want to invest in companies who will benefit from the grid investments. Here is a recommendation.

http://tinyurl.com/l3rmzv

                                                             

 

 

June 14, 2009- The impact of the Smart Grid is a myth and a will be the next bubble.

http://tinyurl.com/mccbo9

 

June 14, 2009-  This article talks about the security risk of the Smart Grid.  We will be seeing more articles like this. Although I am not a cyberrisk expert here is how I understand it….the grid will not be penetrable. The articles that have hyped the vulnerability really do not understand the grid system. The risk they talk about There is not a single grid so even though we might see a breach in one utilities grid the impact will be minimal.  There was a WSJ article about 2 months ago that caused a stir. I hope we have CIA NSA and other experts trying to disrupt their (I will allow you conspiratorial types to fill in the blanks)  grids.

http://tinyurl.com/nhuqus

 

June 14 , 2009   A good piece on compact fluorescent bulbs. This might be the single pound for pound best way to save electrify.  One of the most effective ways to get consumers on board is to get your utility to fund point of purchase incentive programs…buy the bulb get $1.00 back from utility. Simple education will not work (WLL NOT WORK).  Just telling consumers they can save money WLL NOT WORK. I do not understand why they don’t get it.  If the utility can save $5 it is worth them giving the consumer a buck. Maybe utilities do not want us to save electricity and money.  The key here , in addition, is to get WalMart on board.

http://tinyurl.com/n8d7ta

 

June 13, 2009- Very good summary of what is happening in the 5 cities enmeshed in the smart grid experiment- Boulder Co; Miami Fl; Worchester, MA; Austin TX; and Chicago IL.

http://tinyurl.com/nyr2jq

June 13 2009- This piece raises questions about the reliability and cost effectiveness of the Grid. 

http://tinyurl.com/mo6ksm

 

June 13 2009- The home plug powerline alliance…interesting name.

www.homeplug.org

http://hiddenwires.co.uk/resourcesnews2009/news20090612-04.html

 

June 13 2009- Is there a synergy between the Smart Grid and rail transportation?

http://tinyurl.com/lqm2e5

 

June 13, 2009- Another in the long line of “ this is the smart grid” article. Good summary and very positive…nothing new

http://tinyurl.com/mhhouk

http://tinyurl.com/kszncl

 

June 13, 2009- Very well done piece on how the promise of the smart grid faces an uphill battle  because of the timidity of utilities.

“Green tech writer, Katie Fehrenbacher, has written an important article arguing that utility companies don’t get it, are afraid of the costs, and are thus unlikely to offer the kind of “real time” data delivery that could serve as a foundation for eye-opening innovation like we’ve seen from the networked world of the Internet.

This Spring at the 5th anniversary of the Web 2.0 Conference, paradigm forefather Tim O’Reilly identified smart utility grids as one of five technologies that could point into the future, past what’s called Web 2.0. As a reporter working in the green tech field every day, Fehrenbacher’s pessimistic forecast for innovation in smart girds is an important read. Can utility companies get it together to help build a future that’s fundamentally innovative?

Fehrenbacher’s article last week, titled Why the Smart Grid Won’t Have the Innovations of the Internet Any Time Soon, …”

http://tinyurl.com/n28cto

 

June 13, 2009- Interesting analogy…our successful switch to digital TV from analog suggests the switch to the smart grid may be easier than some expect.

http://tinyurl.com/lr2vcl

 

June 13 2009- Two “real” experts discuss very expertly what the smart grid is and does…

http://www.energyconnectinc.com/about/board-of-directors/

 

June 13,  2009- India…battery technology…and the grid.

http://tinyurl.com/lruep5

 

June 13, 2009- A security expert (?) claims that smart grid meters are built on buggy software making the security of the grid suspect.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/12/smart_grid_security_risks/

http://tinyurl.com/ltqe6z

 

June 13, 2009= The standards for the Grid are being written and Sterling Allan is very very very concerned…”I need to give you a very strong heads up warning for everyone in the USA and for that matter around the world regards the status and developments here. There are very serious matters going down and they need our instant and very smartest and most determined responses and we must get onto this immediately.”

http://tinyurl.com/krwk52

June 11, 2009- Duke Energy is the 3^rd largest Utility.  Their CEO Jim Rogers has led the charge to the Smart Grid by recognizing that Utilities that do not take steps to control their destiny by recognizing the political and social forces at work will be at the mercy of Government. They are partnering with Cisco.  What I think is important here is that the combination of the two forces of nature – Cisco and Duke- will be hard to match.  We should consider that we will see a rush to partnerships in the next year.  The good news is that everyone will be killing themselves to get it good, better, and best…and the consumer will be better for it.

http://www.reuters.com/article/gwmEnergy/idUS258040492920090609

 

June 11, 2009 – Another State (this time Minnesota) another we are the state with the best smart grid plan. This get together is sponsored by a company pushes its 700 MHz wireless communication as the “thin” that will save the Smart Grid from failure.

http://sev.prnewswire.com/oil-energy/20090610/NY3081110062009-1.html

 

June 11, 2009- Variable frequency GE turbines  located in NJ will serve NY. It looks like the variable frequency transmission allows easier flow from one grid to another (watch you tube – link below). (If I am wrong let me know).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui9lNgohs0w

http://www.reliableplant.com/article.aspx?articleid=18139&pagetitle=New+Jersey+juices+New+York+with+GE+smart+grid+technology

 

June 11, 2009- Indiana Regulatory Commission approves grid roll out. General Reuters piece about grid and grid projects. Informational no value judgments.

http://www.reuters.com/article/mnEnergy/idUS342948864820090610

 

 

June 11, 2009- Trilliant…enough said.

http://urgentcomm.com/networks_and_systems/commentary/smart-grid-opportunity-trilliant-conant-20090610/

 

 

June 11, 2009 – Accenture…smart grid…Amsterdam.

http://www.reuters.com/article/gwmEnergy/idUS44158429520090608

 

 

June 11, 2009 – Another day another deal. This is like the carnival game where participants shoot a flow of water into a hole and the horse races across as the person gets the water in…until someone wins.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10260669-54.html

 

 

June 11, 2009-  Interesting links to an analysis of renewable energy and grid integration strategies compared.

http://tomkonrad.wordpress.com/2009/06/10/renewable-energy-and-grid-integration-strategies-compared/

 

 

June 11, 2009- AlertMe deals in Europe

http://www.cleantech.com/news/4574/alertmecom-lines-%C2%A38-million-expand

June 9, 2009- South Korea will join the fray (the smart grid fray) by 2030. Testing will begin in a self-contained experiment on an Island in 2011. Let’s not jump into this too quickly. It might be that SK is thinking that a NK nuke will make the investment useless anyway so why not wait. http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2009/06/06/4214757.htm

 

June 9 , 2009- Another set of newspapers discovering the Smart Grid for its readers thanks to a piece by the AP. Once again security issues, cost issues not benefit issues are the last thing that readers are left with. Read this quoting Sen. Murkowski from Alaska, “Is the average consumer willing to pay the upfront costs of a new system and then respond appropriately to price signals? Or will people view a utility’s ability to reach inside a home to turn down a thermostat as Orwellian?” http://www.eagletribune.com/pubiz/local_story_156132917.html?keyword=topstory

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/technology/20090606_ap_smartgrid_buzzoftheelectricpowerindustry.html

 http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20090606/NEWS/906069963/-1/rss01

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090606/ap_on_bi_ge/us_smart_grid_abridged

 

June 9, 2009- Compare the set of newspaper articles that many people read (many being a relative term) to the economist that 11 people read. The Economist has a technically and conceptually more sophisticated view of the issue. Look at how they leave their readers: “It’s the platform that allows for the transformation of one of the largest and most important industries in the world to take place,” says Mr Dresselhuys. http://www.economist.com/science/tq/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13725843

 

 June 8, 2009- Self-serving corporate press release by Colorado Springs Utility (BooYah) making it sound like they are the “bomb”. Maybe they are? They tell me that they are “It’s how we are all connected.” http://ca.sys-con.com/node/992014

 

June 8, 2009- Reuters has an interesting and thoughtful piece that suggests that Utilities will purposively make it impossible for the consumer to use the Smart grid to their benefit by not providing timely data to the consumer (although they will help themselves). The writer suggests that it is important to build out the system thinking forward as much as possible. http://www.reuters.com/article/earth2Tech/idUS339068023820090605

http://www.businessinsider.com/utilities-are-killing-the-smart-grid-as-its-born-2009-6

 

June 8, 2009 – Trilliant expands Smart grid initiative in Ontario (for those of you in Indiana that’s in Canada). http://green.tmcnet.com/topics/green/articles/57417-milton-hydro-trilliant-expand-smart-grid-initiative-ontario.htm

 

June 8, 2009- In depth analysis of the Smart grid. Oh Oh I won’t give you the link because it costs $4,000 BITE ME.

 

June 8, 2009 – We need more “cool” stuff like the GE Digital Hologram

http://gaggio.blogspirit.com/archive/2009/06/05/digital-hologram-of-smart-grid-technology.html

June 8, 2009 – A Japanese consortium with Japanese Govt support will be building a Smart grid experiment (20-30 million)  in New Mexico (start Oct) . There is something here that sounds very strange. How will consumers react to a foreign grid? Consumers have concerns now about American companies building a smart grid.  My initial feeling is that it would be easy to sabotage this experiment by an “anti” campaign. The danger here is not that foreign companies would be discouraged from building Smart Grid stuff here but that it would impair further development by American Companies also.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/141684-japanese-consortium-to-build-smart-grid-project-in-new-mexico

 

June 8,  2009

According to this influential blogger and commentator Om Malik  real time data for consumers will occur in 24 hour periods not frequent multi-day feedback. This is not the dashboard control or informational access that I have seen.

http://www.newsfactor.com/blog_article.php?aid=2174941

http://earth2tech.com/2009/06/05/why-the-smart-grid-wont-have-the-innovations-of-the-internet-any-time-soon/

 

June 8,  2009- As the Smart Grid becomes more a part of daily conversation we will be seeing more of this fear based commentary by bloggers. This really highlights the importance of Utilities to get out in front of education and public opinion. To not lead in this QUICKLY sets Utilities up for media control and public belief to people like this. Maybe we really need more of these people to write negatively…it will force Utilities to get moving.

http://mymoderncountryhome.blogspot.com/2009/06/ge-and-ibm.html

June 2 2009- A Wall Street Journal piece on April8, 2009 (Electricity grid in US penetrated by Spies) increased fear about foreign intrusion into our electricity grid. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is leading Pres. Obama/s charge in this area.  I assume that we have as many people trying to “hack” other countries electricity grid as they do ours. I certainly hope our people are better at hacking their system. I certainly hope that we are hacking into multiple countries. I certainly hope that with the flip of a switch someone at the CIA can disrupt the power grids of the whole world.  Over optimistic…I think not. Overly paranoid…I think not.   http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090601_2309.php

 

June 2 2009- NEMA supports the smart grid- DUH. NEMA is the National Electrical Manufacturers Association .  NEMA members manufacture or will manufacture the gazillion dollar infrastructure that will be the new smart grid and associated stuff.   On a related front the NCA (National Cheese Association) has written a letter in support of upping the daily recommended amount of cheese that each person eats from 1 once to 3 pounds. On a related note the ALF  (Association of Lobster Fishermen)  has suggested that we raise the recommended daily dosage of lobster from .12 pounds to 6 pounds per week. Not only does NEMA support the build out of the Grid they want the government to pay for all of it.  Read NEMA’s letter at http://www.nema.org/gov/energy/smartgrid/upload/CEO_Response_Letter.pdf

http://www.utilityproducts.com/display_article/363770/129/none/none/Indus/NEMA-Members-United-in-Support-of-Obama-Administration’s-Emphasis-on-Smart-Gri

 

June 2 2009- A Reuters news report suggests that there are privacy issues related to all the information utilities will have about energy use.

“In addition to reaching into homes to regulate devices, information about usage and activities could be extracted from homes. Home energy consumption patterns could be gathered and analyzed on a room-by-room and device-by-device basis to determine which devices are used and at what time of day. Although this sort of information may not be considered terribly invasive for some, for others anything that violates the sanctity of “home” may cause tremendous concern.”

This type of article will be a more frequent resident of the blogs, webpages, newspapers (if they still exist in 6 months) , reports, magazines, tweets based on fraud and fallacy probably. But the real point is that utilities must get in front and build the trust and the relationship now. If the Utility waits until consumers rally at their PUC’s…IT WILL TOO LATE

http://www.reuters.com/article/mnGreenTechnology/idUS18202914020090601

June 2 2009  Sources for Smart grid  Funding.  There are Utility execs who are saying./..there is a rainbow at the end of the storm…get your piece of the pie. http://www.metrocorpcounsel.com/current.php?artType=view&artMonth=June&artYear=2009&EntryNo=9770

 

June 2 2009 – Another entry into the this is the smart grid and this is what it will do contest.  They do compare the smart grid programs to the Manhattan Project… no hype here     http://www.govtech.com/gt/691728?topic=117671

 

 

June 2 2009  – Landis+Gyr (who has a facility in Lafayette, IN) is making deals. http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-01-2009/0005035446&EDATE=

 

June 2 2009 – Asia is moving into the SG cautiously. OK…I was fearful they were racing and would beat us. Now I am calm.  http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/security/0,39044215,62054547,00.htm

 

June 2 2009  An analysis of the Waxman-Markey Climate bill which includes smart grid stuff.

http://westcoastclimateequity.org/?p=3123

 

June 2 2009  – There was a company called Sky Pilot. It was bought by Trilliant (makers of systems for the SG)   What ios cool here is that there was/is a company called sky pilot and we can now all sing the Eric Burdon and the Animals version of the song without fear of embarrassment….this is a good day.

http://www.thegreenitreview.com/2009/06/trilliant-buys-skypilot.html

June 1 2009 – China has embarked on a 10 year+ project to build a smart grid. The Gov’t releasing a report outlining plans and goals this summer. GE is a partner.
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2009/200906/
20090601/article_402643.htm

June 1 2009 – West Virginia- every state is duplicating what every state is doing. Another energy summit. The self-serving and self-aggrandizement accorded to Politicians and pseudo-politicians to hold these summits as if they are the one and only summit just depresses me. The duplication makes me want to curl up in a ball in a fetal position and cry. Here is my last thought on this..BITE me.
http://www.timeswv.com/business/local_story_150195821.html

June 1 2009- The Cleantech group is a consulting group and a portal for information around “clean” industries. To get the good stuff you have to join (of course). They have a Grid subgroup (it is hard to find). They do collect news about the SG http://tinyurl.com/mx9ewv

June 1 2009 – GE Augmented Reality – I swear to God…this is pretty cool. Demonstrations are pretty innovative ways of the promise of the smart grid. This is way way way cooler and better than the scarecrow by the way.
Look at this first http://marijanstefanovic.com/blog/?p=5696
The here http://ge.ecomagination.com/smartgrid/#/landing_page

June 1 2009- Latest solar power news for homes. Went to site found they wanted too much information from me before they showed me what was in their pants…BITE me.

June 1 2009 – The SciencePunk Blog has a discussion of EU Energy policy and elections …too many words.
http://scienceblogs.com/sciencepunk/2009/05/meps_science_energy.php

June 1 2009 – From a blog about security and business concerns .. The page has a boring ass video about the SG but this is useful—
A primer on the topic
Blog on smart grid security
Some companies in this space

June 1 2009 – A how to on how to use Google Android to use the Grid powered super powers in the home. http://labs.moto.com/android-meets-energy/
Listen guys…I want you to make even harder to make sense of this whole thing for most consumers. BITE me.

May 30 2009- A visit to the Envision Center of Duke Energy highlights 2 very important things:
1. Duke Energy is a visionary company thinking 30 years out
2. This is the most impressive display of what the full potential of the Smart Gird is that I have seen.
3. Even though Duke clearly has a handle on the Smart Gird and what it means they believe are over confident in their understanding of how the consumer will affect and be affected by the Gird
4. The potential effects of the SG are probably greater than they realize.

Article

May 29 2009- Smart grid workshops are being planned in CO. The point of which appears to be self flagellation. The proclaimed point is to prepare a workforce for the reality of the Grid…HUH. Maybe I am missing something. Try working with consumers who will never attend a workshop to even partly use the grid that you now have.
http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20090529/UPDATES03/90529032/1002/NEWS01

May 29 2009- Hughes Network Systems believes that they have something that Utilities want as the utilities deal with the SG. ..YEAH right. What would you expect them to say? They have satellite based IP capability for legacy SCADA networks. You have to love it when they speak technically.
http://www.satellitetoday.com/st/headlines/Hughes-Names-Encore-As-Broadband-Technology-Partner_31135.html

May 29 2009- Each state will now be lobbying foreign governments to profit from their late entry to the smart grid world. Why should the Japanese think that New Mexico has their solution? My cynical view is this justifies trade trips for State officials. Pick a country…sign an MOU…you are in the game.
http://albuquerque.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2009/06/01/story1.html
http://albuquerque.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2009/06/01/story1.html?b=1243828800%5E1836038

May 29 2009- “The smart grid presents a massive opportunity for networking and software players, including wireless mesh companies, broadband powerline players, energy dashboard web interface makers, and software systems developers. VCs who cut their teeth on these types of companies during Internet, computing and telecom build-outs, will feel right at home evaluating these firms and finding a potential breakout.”
VC’s are salivating. The positive side is that because of this we will see a lot of innovation. The downside…we will have to do something with all that saliva.
http://www.reuters.com/article/earth2Tech/idUS207612791920090529

May 29 2009 My view is that if the SG is so smart why can’t it make a latte.

May 29 2009 President Obama proposed Cybersecurity Czar (or Czaress or Cyber hunk/cyberbabe) to mitigate recent beliefs that a national smart grid system will be vulnerable to attack. The government review makes one clear statement about the SG… “The Nation should implement, for high-value activities (e.g., the Smart Grid), an opt-in array of interoperable identity management systems to build trust for online transactions and to enhance privacy.”
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/05/29/cybersecurity-the-electric-grid-and-smokey-bear/