Via Slashdot:
“On Monday, the Obama administration announced the next steps that the US will take to build its 21st century electric grid, and Information Technology is expected to play a big part in the plans. The White House hosted a 90-minute media event called ‘Building the 21st Century Electric Grid’ and is releasing a new report on what it will take for lawmakers and the private sector to come together to solve this aspect of the energy challenge.”
Here’s more from the official White House statement:
“Along with the announcement of new public and private initiatives aimed at building a smarter, expanded grid and empowering consumers, the Cabinet-level National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) will release a new report: ‘A Policy Framework for the 21st Century Grid.’ This policy framework charts a collaborative path forward for applying digital information or ’smart grid’ technologies to the nation’s electricity infrastructure to facilitate the integration of renewable sources of power into the grid; help accommodate the growing number of electric vehicles; help avoid blackouts and restore power quicker when outages occur; and reduce the need for new power plants.”
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I really hope that while the grid is being re-engineered, that an effort is made to make it resilient to EMP and CME as well.
I will remind all readers that a so-called “smart grid” is much, much more vulnerable to nuclear electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) damage than the older more reliable analog meters: The old meters – having no microcircuits or chips to get damaged – continue working (delivering electricity through the meter to the service in the house or industry) after EMP events. (The grid is not so much threatened by EMP as the computers and electronics fed by the grid.)
A “Smart” meter? Well, are they hardened against damage (like a MILSPEC battlefield device) from a solar energy pulses or nearby lightening hits or a high-altitude nuclear blast? We now face the almost certainity of nuclear-armed enemies now – enemies (unlike the Soviets and Chinese) who are simply determined and who actually look forward to using nuclear weapons over their enemies.
Unemployment continues to creep up, inflation too. Housing foreclosures continue. Small retail business slowly closing……. And the money for the new grid will come from where?
As Polistra mentioned earlier, the power grid needs to be made LESS sensitive to EMPs. Back in the days of telegraphs there was a giant pulse from the sun that did a lot of damage even though there were no electronics to speak of back then. It is stupid to build this hideously expensive system that you KNOW is going to be taken out all in one shot somewhere in the not too distant future. I say build more coal and gas fired plants and replace/upgrade the worn infrastructure we currently have and make it more EMP resistant, not less. Let’s make energy cheap, plentiful and reliable for all and get this country moving forward again.
Well I’m no Spaghetti ‘O’ fan and after watching the Repub debate last night I saw that money cannot buy smartness. Romney answering the question from the 25 year military man with three sons doing a hitch. Romney: “I will pull out of Afghanistan when my generals say the TALIBAN military are ready to take over.” WAFI!
I was a bit impressed with the young man from PA.
Gnstr says:
June 14, 2011 at 6:56 am
give him a chance, how many people were against the new deal? this could be a lifeline, and cut dependence on non-renewable sources of energy
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Uhmm, no, it can’t. It just moves things around at a very high cost. The costs and efficiency of wind and solar generation has been explored enough to know they will not. Ask a Brit or a Texan about this winter…..or a Spaniard about how it worked out when a nation totally embraces the technology. It didn’t. Hybrids? ….not yet. Time Of Use billing is deplorable. The fact is, by the very nature of wind and solar, it demands dependence upon natural gas. More to the pity, if we hadn’t embraced the wirlygigs and pinwheels (and sun absorbers) as much as we have, then nat gas would be more plentiful and cheaper than it is today.
You see, because we can’t mandate the wind to blow or the sun to shine, we have to back that energy up with……..natural gas. (I suppose oil would do to, but we don’t use much of that in the U.S…for energy generation) And when I say back up, I mean back up to the base load and peak production at the same time. One can’t use coal or nuclear because of the nature of the fuels….you can’t just turn them off or on at a whim. In energy generation, natural gas is best used as a supplement to the base generation of Nuke or coal for peak periods.
Why am I thinking of Rube Goldberg?
http://users.section101.com/memberdata/ru/rubegoldberg/photos/rubegoldberg_photo_gal_4155_photo_818463667_lr.jpg
Gnstr says:
June 14, 2011 at 6:56 am
give him a chance, how many people were against the new deal? this could be a lifeline, and cut dependence on non-renewable sources of energy
This has nothing to do with giving Obama a chance. This is about an extremely bad idea just from an economic standpoint, and one which will ultimately hurt, not help people. No, it will not be a “lifeline”, but a lead weight driving energy costs sky-high, with enormous possibilities for abuse and/or failure of the system. The reality is that we are “dependent”, for now, and for the forseeable future on fossil fuels. They are the backbone of a vibrant, healthy economy, which Greenies, for some reason or another seem to want to destroy.
A lot of the people pushing plug-in cars are dangerously clueless about what that implies with respect to the electric grid. Since they can command money to appear out of thin air maybe they think they can command energy to appear out of thin air as well.
Our electric grid has a scope and capacity that is shaped by present usage. The key factor here is that it is sufficient to handle the twin peaks of the year: in the cold, WIND-FREE chill of January mornings when heating needs are at a maximum, and in the peak of the summer, when a week of cloudless and WIND-FREE sizzling afternoons drive air conditioning usage to a peak.
The truth is that recharging the batteries of a plug-in electric car will draw as much current from the local utility as the car owner’s central heat or central air conditioner will. With present capacity, the local electric system will be swamped and overwhelmed if too many people in one area attempt to run their air conditioner and recharge their car at the same time. There are only two ways to address this. One is to upgrade the entire residential electric grid and build new power plants. The other is to force recharging of vehicles into times of the day when there is sufficient capacity.
This implies that it is only a matter of time before the utility will require the car charger in the home to be able to negotiate with the utility how much current it can draw at any one time. This helps the utility protect its infrastructure as well as to run its mix of generation as economically as possible. A homeowner must be able to control his energy priorities. For example, faced with limited power, does the homeowner want to run his air conditioner, hot water heater, kitchen oven or charge his car? Secondarily, when you plug your car in, do you want to charge it as fully as possible at the lowest rate, or would you want it fully charged no matter what the cost? The Smart-Grid takes this a few steps further. And I would observe, it also brings surveillance and control of our private activities and few steps further as well.
harrywr2 says:
June 14, 2011 at 7:16 am
Dylan says:
June 14, 2011 at 4:47 am
Sorry, the only way the ‘smart grid’ is going to significantly impact Californian ‘peak demand’ is by disabling air conditioners.
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And, that’s what we’re here for. This doesn’t state that they’re using this with ACs, but it won’t be a problem.
http://pressroom.geconsumerproducts.com/pr/ge/ge-first-to-use-zigbee-protocols-187066.aspx
Ain’t that grand? If we keep this up, smart grid technologists, such as I, will be able to tell when you’ve taken a hot bath! Or, better yet, when you can and when you can’t. Here’s a shout out to all of the totalitarian misanthropist Big Brother wannabees!!! I couldn’t have got there without you!!!
Smart grid is code for rationing. Nothing more. They found a way to make it acceptable for greens to have controlled brownouts. The mix of monopoly and smartmeter puts the consumer at the end of a gunbarrel for their own needs. Of course some may say that that is the intent.
“Gnstr says:
June 14, 2011 at 6:56 am
give him a chance, how many people were against the new deal? this could be a lifeline, and cut dependence on non-renewable sources of energy”
So we can become dependent on renewable sources? Which do you think are the more reliable: wind, solar, gas, nuclear? The only thing you can rely on with current ‘renewables’ is that they can’t be relied on to provide consistent supply.
Less a lifeline and more like lead weights attached to the collective feet. I think you should give *us a chance, not the self-serving, scientifically ignorant politicians and rent-seeking renewable moguls.
rbateman says:
June 14, 2011 at 7:02 am
Who’s paying for this?
The nation is sucked dry of money, for the very few have the lions share of the dough, and they aren’t sharing.
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Well, the consumer is. For cooperatives, its easy, buy the stuff and past the cost on. We don’t really need state approval or anything. Of course, the capital used is borrowed from sources such as RUS…..(thanks tax-payers!!! There is no such thing as too much debt!!!) There are some municipalities adopting , but its slow. IOUs (Investor owned utilities) would typically have to run this by some state agency before they can gouge the consumer. That’s not really hard to achieve, either.
To make the game ever more fun, we don’t necessarily raise rates, but rather add a new inventive form of gouging. So, we can still brag we haven’t raised rates in x years, but we’ve sure managed to increase the amount in the check you write us every month.
Wealth redistribution…..its not just for tax schemes any more!
“The phrase ‘our new, happy life’ recurred several times. It had been a favourite of late with the Ministry of Plenty. Parsons, his attention caught by the trumpet call, sat listening with a sort of gaping solemnity, a sort of edified boredom. He could not follow the figures, but he was aware that they were in some way a cause for satisfaction. He had lugged out a huge and filthy pipe which was already half full of charred tobacco. With the tobacco ration at 100 grammes a week it was seldom possible to fill a pipe to the top. Winston was smoking a Victory Cigarette which he held carefully horizontal. The new ration did not start till tomorrow and he had only four cigarettes left. For the moment he had shut his ears to the remoter noises and was listening to the stuff that streamed out of the telescreen. It appeared that there had even been demonstrations to thank Big Brother for raising the chocolate ration to twenty grammes a week. And only yesterday, he reflected, it had been announced that the ration was to be reduced to twenty grammes a week. Was it possible that they could swallow that, after only twenty-four hours? Yes, they swallowed it. Parsons swallowed it easily, with the stupidity of an animal. The eyeless creature at the other table swallowed it fanatically, passionately, with a furious desire to track down, denounce, and vaporize anyone who should suggest that last week the ration had been thirty grammes. Syme, too-in some more complex way, involving doublethink, Syme swallowed it. Was he, then, alone in the possession of a memory? ”
— George Orwell, 1984, part 1, chapter 5.
Not much more to say to this proposition… we freeze in the dark in the winter, while their cutbacks increase the numbers of deaths in the cities in the summer, thus justifying further cutbacks in power to reduce ’emissions’.
polistra
June 14, 2011 at 4:01 am
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This administration cant help it. Their Marxists, so “Central Control” and “Collectivism” is in their DNA. Their world view can not contain any other solution.
“Shivering in the dark” is becomming one of my most used expressions.
Gnstr
June 14, 2011 at 6:56 am
give him a chance, how many people were against the new deal? this could be a lifeline, and cut dependence on non-renewable sources of energy
###
And look how well that raw deal worked out. Our country has been ruined because of it. And don’t give me that depression non-sense. All the Raw deal did was to prolong it! So yay, comparing this with the raw deal is valid.
The last thing you ever want to see and hear is the federal government at your doorstep saying, “I’m here to help you.”
Dylan’s drive-by was amusing, but sorely lacking in knowledge.
The most amazingly ridiculous statement was:
“Designing for peak demand is costly and wasteful”.
Here’s the thing: NOT designing for peak demand is STUPID and DANGEROUS.
Here in Calgary, we sometimes go some length of time in mid winter with continuous temperatures below -30C. EVERY demand is a peak demand. You can’t delay running your oven, dishwasher, washer and dryer until it warms up, and the whole time you NEED your furnace running. Also, it’s winter, so you NEED the lights on, the sun sets at 4pm. Net result? Our power suppliers are begging and pleading for everyone to stop heating and cooking and cleaning. Proper response? Build sufficient energy capacity.
Okay, that’s an extreme winter-climate example, but our entire civilization is based on technology. Half the biggest trouble-makers, that in a bygone era were out looting in the streets, are sitting at home playing CoD and WoW. Personally, I want their power to stay on.
While you’re at it, the idea of building sufficient transportation infrastructure seems to now be archaic. How freaking Annoying and Wasteful is it for me to take over an hour at “rush hour” to get 5 miles away? Imagine the sheer waste of fuel spent idling (and again it’s a winter climate, most of the year turning off the car is NOT an option), imagine the wear and tear on engine parts and clutches.
Infrastructure, both power and transportation, is one of the few things that I’ve always believed require government involvement, for the simple fact that private industry can’t always muscle their way into doing what needs to be done. Since a government is SUPPOSED to be of and for the people, they should do the Right Thing. Sadly, governments across all first world countries have been hijacked by people bound and determined to SCREW US UP in the name of the green god.
President
Obama underscored that commitment in the Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future (White House 2011b).
To advance that policy, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) (U.S.
Congress 2009) accelerated the development of smart grid technologies, investing $4.5 billion for
electricity delivery and energy reliability activities to modernize the electric grid and implement demonstration
and deployment programs (as authorized under Title XIII of EISA).
With in the first 6 pages this ‘investing $4.5 billion‘ was mentioned. But a current powerline installation rates
Typical installed costs for 765 kV, 500 kV and 345 kV transmission lines are:
Voltage Class Cost Range/Mile*
——————— ——————
765 kV Single Circuit $2.6 – 4.0 Million
500 kV Single Circuit $2.3 – 3.5 Million
345 kV Double Circuit $1.5 – 2.5 Million
345 kV Single Circuit $1.1 – 2.0 Million
*Average construction costs in 2008 dollars; rural terrain with rolling hills;
elevations up to 4000 feet above sea level; includes siting and ROW costs; excludes
station costs.
Which means they have put in enough money for under 2000 miles of new lines?
From the report. “If utilities do not have a strong incentive to sell less energy and operate more efficiently,
they will not see sufficient benefits from investing in certain smart grid applications. Recognizing
this issue, state commissions are increasingly confronting questions about regulatory reform
options that change utility business models to, for example, make energy efficiency a more
central part of their mission.”
What happened to providing a service to the customer that they want to buy?
It’s time to remember another part of Eisenhower’s Military/Industrial Complex Speech:
“The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded.
Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific/technological elite.
It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system — ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society.”
.
Getting Off The Grid has never sounded like a better idea.
ALL: It also depends on WHERE the grid will be installed. Put on your AGENDA 21 caps and think what areas will actually have the grid, and what areas will not have access.
Within the confines of known technology, we can accomplish anything which we deem worthy of investment..
Decisions made to implement the smart grid would likely be sound and necessary in their own right and worth the cost.
However, regarding our nation’s energy needs, we are witness to rhetoric from the highest levels of government in support of an ideological agenda where economic and other real- world considerations are of little importance.
While some have argued that the power grid is managed by individuals and not the state, one need only look back at the Enron affair to see how easily the state colludes with those who would rob us or bend us to their own purpose.
Stephan says:
June 14, 2011 at 4:43 am
What do you need a grid for when you are killing power production?
That’s a good question. You have to distinguish between the portion of a smartgrid that handles routing power and transmitting grid management information from the part that penetrates into homes and businesses.
Why do we need smartgrid in private homes and businesses? Autoresponse to shut off demand automatically due to erratic and unreliable green energy is the only justification. Government is making sure smartgrid is built. The utilities and other companies are going along with it because they are alternately being bribed and threatened. And what happens when we find out that green energy doesn’t work? We are left with smartgrid.
The Home Area Network (HAN) monitors eventually all of our electrical devices via data packets sent through wireless protocol (see http://www.zigbee.org/) to the thermostat, the smart meter, or through the power wires (see http://www.homeplug.org/tech/app_smart_energy). These smart devices will all have their own IP addresses (IPv6) and will be able to report details about usage. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 provides for smartgrid and unlimited ‘data mining’. New computer power supplies (now being sold in Europe) have the Intellon modem chip built in, and when the computer is plugged into the wall, it is automatically networked via smartgrid. That means your personal information is exposed to hackers and other interested parties without an ethernet cable, without a wireless access point, just by being plugged in.
Wtih smartgird, utilities plan to supply customers with powerline-based broadband. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has been given $millions to develop powerline communications and security. That tells you security issues have not been solved. The Obama Administration has new cybersecurity laws that back up an ability to kill the internet. The free and open internet we know may be replaced by another government controlled broadband along the lines of China. Sniffers will read all of your traffic on that system. There will be no security measure in our homes the government cannot penetrate. Your TV, computer, refrigerator, and other devices will report what we do in our homes. Large unstructured databases being developed will make it possible to search and find information about anyone, what they do and who they know.
If there were only one effort to increase government control over us, it would be easy to dismiss it as a wacky conspiracy theory. However, we see multiple efforts by government aimed at controlling us:
• Smartgrid – monitoring us in our homes and businesses – attack on 4th amendment
• Global warming – control everything produces CO2, justifies total control over economy, end of free market
• Obamacare – literally giving government the power of life and death over us
• Political judges – end rule of law, craft remedies for ‘unfairness’, reinterpret Constitution
• Food security – taking away the ability of people to grow and share their own food, coupled with deals with big business to control seeds – fundamental attack on human rights, independent living
• Federal and state education programs – political indoctrination, usurping parental rights over mind and body of children – fundamental attack on family structure
• Social security – identify people with a number from birth, make us more dependent on government
• Car GPS – monitoring where we travel, supposedly only to replace the gas tax
• Video surveillance, smartphones – monitor our movements
• Cybersecurity – controlling our ability to communicate freely, eventually replacing the internet
• TSA – outrageous ‘security’ measures designed to establish the authority of government search us anytime, anywhere – attack on 4th amendment
• Gun laws – take away the right of people to throw off tyranny; it isn’t about hunting – attack on 2nd amendment
• Hate speech – take away the right of people to voice religious beliefs, necessary to allow an oppressive government to destroy the moral underpinning of society, and allow that government to redefine ‘good’ and ‘bad’ freely and thereby justify any actions – attack on 1st amendment
• Endangered species laws – systematically used beyond original purpose to take away private property rights
• Environmental impact laws – add huge costs and delays that effective stifle economic growth, slowly make system unworkable as population has grown – deliberately
• Media – propaganda designed to instill fear and hopelessness, to make us less willing to resist
• FED, IRS – control our money, inflationary policy designed to rob savings
• Regulations – designed to reward businesses that play along with government by reducing competition, and creating profitable regulatory markets (e.g. GE, IBM, CISCO, and many others with smartgrid) – end of free market
• Interstate commerce clause abuse – give federal govenment power over states, abolishing 10th amendment
• Federal research grants, state funded research – corrupt science, justify regulations
Paranoia? Why can’t we have stalinism here? Sometimes they really are out to get you. We are supposed to have limited government, and they don’t want to be limited. Unless we resist, we lose.
Smartgid is a very real threat that can be justified only because the government wants to attach unreliable renewable energy directly to the grid. Renewable energy is justifiable only because of anthropogenic global warming hysteria. This site is critically important to maintain freedom. It’s not just science anymore, this is a battle for our minds and our lives (living in third world conditions kills people).