Articles

In part one of this two-part article series, we discussed just what the heck the Green Button Initiative is: where it came from, where it’s going, what it’s made of (besides figurative green buttons). In this second part, we take an in-depth look at one particular utility’s use of Green Button, namely San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E). 

In the end, despite best efforts, a utility can’t prevent weather emergencies: Power will go out because lines will come down. That’s a fact. But, that doesn’t mean a utility can’t prepare. Here are three areas that can be shored up to help.

In February, President Obama signed an executive order with the intentions of beefing up the cybersecurity protection for bits of critical infrastructure, including the electric power structure strewn across the country. In this companion article to Prudence Park's UTC piece from yesterday (which can be read here), we give a little advice on preparation and patience. (Thought leadership sponsor...read more

This week will see thought leaders from across the utility analytics landscape traveling to Napa, CA to attend the 2013 Utility Analytics Summit, presented by the Utility Analytics Institute. With support from host utilities PG&E and SMUD, the Summit promises to be a great opportunity for utility analytics professionals.

Smart meters were set to usher in a lot of dynamic customer functions, such as time-of-use (TOU) rates. But, while popular outside of the U.S., not many utilities mess with TOU inside America. Why didn’t TOU take off with the AMI boom of the last few years, and is there still hope for TOU?

When new regulations come into play, such as NERC’s Critical Infrastructure Protection (NERC CIP) requirements a few years ago, it’s fairly normal for everyone involved to, basically, freak out a little. The power industry definitely did. But, the regulators would argue that it’s all for a good cause. (Thought leadership sponsored by Intel.)

There is a solution to this grid stress, namely wide-area programs that use remote sensor data to keep an eye on the issues. Essentially, the concept is: If we tie it all together and read what’s going on in real-time, we can react faster, prevent more issues and generally be more proactive with more automated grid management. (Thought leadership sponsored by Intel.)

As 2013 unspools in the first few weeks of January, we stop looking back at the year that was and start looking forward to the year that will be. But, what if the year that was can give insights into the year that will be? Usually industry hot spots and areas of concern don’t stop existing at the stroke of midnight as the year shifts. So, keeping that in mind, here are concepts from 2012 that will grow into their own (or beyond) as this new 2013 progresses.

As the power industry horizon starts to rain cloud offerings, it can be difficult to push through the PR storm; in the end, the right cloud solution for a utility offers smart IT options. Thought leadership sponsored by Intel.

The Electricity Subsector Cybersecurity Capability Maturity Model (ES-C2M2) hasn’t been in the works for a decade. It hasn’t been languishing in a subcommittee waiting for rescue or funding. In fact, it all started just a scant year ago when the White House knocked on the door of the Department of Energy (DOE) and asked how we (as a government body and as an industry entity and as a group of concerned consumers) start to pinpoint what utilities are doing on cybersecurity and what they should ...read more

Some IT lessons learned from closed-door Knowledge discussions include a fount of revelations about consumer influence, IT coverage and gaps still left to hurdle, whether that jump is through technology advancements or changes in governance.

Despite the huge promise that clean renewable energy presents, big challenges remain. Chief among them are the ability to deploy cutting-edge technologies that integrate energy from the sun and wind onto the electric grid.  Thought leadership sponsored by Intel. (Photo by Kathleen Wolf Davis.)

Smart grid discussions may reveal details of customer benefits and notations about the use of “big data,” the current industry trend, but they sometimes ignore the basic necessities of a smart grid: smarter equipment, analytics ability and, at the core, interoperability. Having a holistic approach to both the smart grid and its necessities, such as interop, is the advice of Avista Utility’s Curtis Kirkeby, a senior electrical engineer in charge of technology strategy with more than 30 years i...read more

As meter data management systems and other parts of the electricity infrastructure pull in more information on customers, devices, weather, outages and interactions, the question remains: What do you do with all this data. One major trend on the utility horizon in 2012 has been the use of analytics to understand patterns and estimate issues.

Thought Leadership sponsored by Intel

While some utilities fret over the reams of data that is now available to them from smart grid technologies like smart meters, advanced meter infrastructure and distributed automation, others are taking full advantage of the new opportunities presented by the data.

As utilities ramp up spending on technologies designed to protect the power distribution system and make the electric grid more intelligent, the emphasis on security continues to grow. Thought leadership sponsored by Intel.