From Minnesota Public Radio:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/09/26/smart_grid/
You can listen to it online or read the article at the link...
Highlights:
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Our electricity system is about to get smarter. Utilities are installing new technologies that can help consumers save energy and prevent blackouts. Xcel Energy is installing an extensive smart grid system in Boulder, Colo. that may lead to more widespread use of the technology.
On the roof, there are solar panels making electricity that the Petersons can sell back to the power company. The panels also charge a battery, which is ready to kick in if there's a power outage at the house.
Another part of the experiment is the Petersons' car. It's a plug-in electric vehicle that gets 54 miles per gallon in town, and more than 100 miles on the highway.
Val Peterson can program her system so the car's battery is only recharged on renewable energy. Or, if her car battery has extra power, she can plug it in and sell power back to the grid during peak times, when everyone else is turning on lights and using appliances.
"When they tell me how many coal-fired plants I kept from being started up or even constructed, it just really makes me happy," Val Peterson said. "It makes me mindful that we're making a difference. This is changing my behavior."
That's the goal of the smart grid experiment in Boulder, according to Xcel Energy spokesman Tom Henley.
...new technologies are expected to reduce Xcel's power needs in the region by 7 percent.
Some experts say all this potential energy saving means we should re-think the electrical system from top to bottom. Smart grid pilot projects on the West Coast have shaved 20 percent from peak demand -- more quickly and more cheaply than building new power lines.
The federal government wants state regulators to require utilities to at least consider smart grid technologies before they propose big projects like power plants or transmission lines -- including projects like CapX 2020, where several utilities want to build four big new power lines criss-crossing the state.
