The Illinois Smart Grid Initiative (ISGI)’s new report, “Empowering Consumers through a Modern Electric Grid”, explores the potential benefits of a modernized electric grid and maps a policy path for achieving those benefits for consumers and the economy. At a time when both President Obama’s Administration and Congress have prioritized electric grid modernization and the jobs potential it holds, Illinois is well positioned to become the national leader in the adoption of a truly consumer-focused smart grid.
Illinois residents face $6-11 billion annually in costs related to power outages and power disruptions, with many communities experiencing outage levels far above the national average. The ISGI Report outlines how a smart grid can fundamentally improve reliability and efficiency, integrate renewable energy on the local level, and empower consumers to take charge of and reduce their electricity bills–while saving energy and reducing carbon emissions.
The ISGI Report identifies several steps that can be taken right now to improve the electricity system for the benefit of all Illinois citizens. It encourages increasing consumer choice by pairing real-time electricity rates with smart technology, and urges regulatory rule changes that encourage public and private investment in energy efficient smart grids. Finally, investing in the smart grid can open the door to new ‘green power’, high-tech business opportunities in communities throughout the state.
Currently, Illinois is the national leader in offering residential customers real-time pricing options, and is among the leading states in mandating increased renewables and energy efficiency. Using the economic stimulus bill as one catalyst, the ISGI Report maps out how Illinois can transform the electric grid into a smart grid and set the standard for the nation in stimulating the economy and protecting the environment.
Download Summary Report (PDF, 363KB)
Download Full Report (PDF, 1.26MB)
Download Fact Sheet - Smart Grid: Status and Opportunities in Illinois (PDF, 119KB)
1 comment:
I took the time to read this whole thing, and a few things struck me. 1.) The utilities will have to incorporate new accounting methods to “cost justify” the expense. I think that this is a step in a dangerous direction after seeing all the accounting gymnastics that lead us into the financial debacle that we are witnessing. 2.) As stated on page 19 of the document, "While there is no guarantee that a smart grid will actually reduce customers’ bills, it will provide small customers with a new set of tools to manage their usage and total bills more effectively." This basically means that our bills are guaranteed to go up, and if we don’t conserve, we will experience pain in the wallet. 3.) Excellent questions were posed on page 8, "Who will make the necessary investments that will sustain the system over the long-run? How will those investments be financed and what can be done to ensure that the necessary investments are utilized in the most efficient manner?" With today’s heavy handed government, it is obvious that ultimately, we, the common rate payer will foot this multi-billion dollar bill – along with paying for the mortgage bailout, and the automakers bailout, and TARP, and on and on, ad infinitum until we get rid of this backward thinking or are totally finally bled out. 4.) Now this gets serious, on page 18, the doc says, "As so much of our economic activity is driven by energy consumption, the rising cost of energy and uncertainty about future energy prices places significant strains on the economy." Well, just DUH!! Was it conservation that built our country into the world’s only remaining economic and military super power?? NO!! Do we want to remain as a superpower? Should we be worried about who will fill that void if we conserve ourselves in to second place?? The answer to both is a resounding YES!!
I have many more notes as I read this, but those were the main ones, and brings me to my conclusions. The Smart Grid Initiative has many good outcomes that are possible and would ultimately be good for both rate payers and the entities that generate and deliver power. Any improvement in the grid is helpful, but this initiative does not strike at the real problems facing our grid at this moment. Generation and Transmission. If we would build more base load nuke plants, or coal plants, one of the t main reasons to do what’s in this report goes away. If we build more transmission lines to get power from Gen plant A to Substation B, my costs will go down, and by the way – yes, you can build them in my back yard. This entire initiative is predicated mainly on two false premises, 1.) Man made global warming. Argue as much as you want, the science just is not complete enough to destroy our economy to prevent an imaginary disaster. We would be foolish to think that if we reduce our carbon emissions that all other nations will do the same. What would really happen is that China and Russia will continue to build and surpass us economically and militarily. 2.) Alternative “Green” energy sources. Since mankind has consumed energy in significant quantities, every new fuel has been cleaner, more abundant, and would generate more BTUs than the previous fuel. We’ve gone from wood to coal to oil. Alternatives are fine, they're just not reliable enough for base load or even for peaking. There may be another power source out there not yet discovered, and we should be looking for it, but it is not close enough to abandon coal just yet. The next abundant power source is nuclear. If we don’t utilize this power source, the rest of the world will, and we will be carbon constrained into a seventeenth century lifestyle. There are good reasons to do this, lets be brave and truthfully address the generation and transmission problems by building more plants and power lines, then see what a smart grid can do for us. Smart Grid is not a bad idea, if we do it for the correct reasons.
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