August 17, 2011 Colleen Luckett
CAEL’s regional office in Denver, which facilitates the Energy Providers for Education Coalition (EPCE), was notified in 2010 that its EPCE - Workforce Preparedness for Smart Grid Deployment proposal was awarded a $2.5 million U.S. Department of Energy grant. With this grant, CAEL, in partnership with key energy industry representatives and Bismarck State College’s National Energy Center of Excellence, has developed three of four online smart grid courses aimed at training today’s utility workforce on this new technology.
Recently, CAEL surveyed some of its EPCE energy members to gain some insights on upcoming smart grid development. Here’s what they said:
What is an electric grid? What role does it play in our lives?
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The electric grid is responsible for transmitting and distributing generated electricity to consumers. The economic impact and quality of life provided by the electric grid is often compared to that of our highway system, railroad system and the internet. All of these have a huge impact on our economy and without them our lives would change drastically. If you think about electricity it is the first thing you count on each morning to sound your alarm clock and the last thing you turn off at night with your lights before going to bed. Life without electricity is really unimaginable.
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The collection of wires, switches, and transformers that delivers electricity from power plants (suppliers) to your home (consumers). It is what powers everything electric in our lives and supports almost everything we do from shipping and storing food to communication with each other and how we do financial transactions. Electricity is really different than any other utility (i.e. - we can do without cable, we can purchase water at a store and set in the garage for later use, but electricity cannot currently be economically stored for bulk use).
What does everyone need to know about a smart grid?
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It is much more than just smart meters.
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Smart grids are the key to integrating renewable resources.
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The delivery of the energy has not changed. With smart grid, consumers can have control of how much and when energy is needed.
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The smart grid is expensive but the paybacks are many and some still unknown.
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The smart grid is not a one size fits all and it will evolve in different capacities across the nation.
What are examples of the impact a smart grid would have on a family or an individual?
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An advanced smart grid would allow your electric vehicle to "roam" similar to your cell phone.
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With smart grid providing real time, useful information, consumers will be able to support conservation efforts which can delay or avoid the need for added generation to meet peak load. Everyone can participate in preserving resources and reduce the cost of energy.
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A self-healing system that finds faults before they occur and notifies the utility company about where and when maintenance should be performed.
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The smart grid may impact a family or individual by giving them more insight into how and when they use energy. From this they may be able to change their habits or routines to lower their energy bills and help make the electric grid more reliable.