Remember the good old days of sci-fi, when our hero would come home to a house that knew exactly how warm to be, and would have dinner ready in the oven? Well, the powers that be are working on a vision for a responsive, smarter national electric grid that would deliver greater efficiency and reliability than the current system–no casseroles yet, but give ‘em time.
A recent Business Week article discussed the details of an experiment conducted in 2006 in Washington, in which over 100 homes were outfitted with “smart” technology that knew when energy was at highest demand, and would adjust accordingly. Automatic lowering of the thermostat, for instance, or the dryer providing a gentle suggestion to perhaps come back and try again later. The idea is to relieve stress from the grid at peak demands times. It saves money for the consumer and smoothes out the peaks and troughs that have wreaked so much havoc in times of great energy usage (need we remind anyone of the California rolling blackouts or the Northeast shutdown?).
Funded primarily by the Department of Energy with help from local utilities and donated technology, the project was successful on numerous fronts. Energy supply was smoothed out over the trial period, ensuring no interruption of service during peak times, and consumers seemed happy with the energy supply and with their savings.
Here are the pros to participating in an a national version of this grid: (1) you save money; (2) you save energy; (3) you can remote control your house from the internet, which, let’s face it, is awesome; (4) you feel pretty confident you won’t have to deal with power outages. Here are the cons: (1) you’re not entirely sure that no one else can control your house from the internet; (2) you are confident that integrating a massive amount of new technology on a national scale will cause hiccups, like, oh, say, a six month wait for equipment (just a guess); (3) you’re concerned about where the money for revamping our entire national grid is going to come from.
That last point must be balanced by the fact that our national grid is in dire need of some kind of rehab, regardless of whether this is the route that’s taken. What I think would be best is if renewable energies were pulled into the system revamp at the same time: wind and solar power will provide cheaper electricity over time, and the sooner those technologies are implemented, the sooner they start paying for themselves. And once we have the responsive home energy technology out of the way, the sooner we set our sights on the next level of convenience and innovation. I pretty much just want to be able to walk up to my fridge and say, “Earl Grey tea, hot.” Is that so much to ask?
Cool stuff, Margaret. Just another example of how small, sensible technologies can combine to have a huge beneficial impact.
Here’s an interesting overview of the grid in North America, with details on the post 1970s-deregulation and the economics of electricity generation and distribution: http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/14726/page/1