[Part one of the smart grid series is here.]

So we have a rough idea of what the smart grid is, other than an animated scarecrow attempting to commit suicide by throwing himself off a transmission tower. Now, we need to answer the tougher question: why do I want a smart grid?

There is no simple answer; there are maybe half a dozen compelling reasons why you want one. Over the next few days I'm going to talk about the 3 most important.  Here's the first: the smart grid will allow distributed and renewable energy to flourish.

Solar panels, wind turbines, and other renewable technologies have been around for four decades or longer. As scientists and, later, society at large, have come to understand the importance of global warming, energy independence, and sustainability, a funny thing has happened: instead of it becoming easier to build renewable technology, it is becoming harder.

An example of the way this is becoming harder is the fight over net metering. In a net-metering setup, when you use electricity, the meter spins one way. When you make electricity, the meter spins backwards. At the end of the month, you might get a bill from the electric company, or you could get a check if you made more than you used.



But utilities and regulatory agencies have fought against net metering rules. Instead of a two-way meter, utility companies have the option of giving the solar panels get a separate meter. At the end of the month, you get a bill for the electricity you purchased, and you get a check for the electricity you made. But guess what? The retail electric providers are under no obligation to purchase this power at fair market price. They can pay you half, or a quarter, or nothing. They can pay you whatever they feel like. In fact, some providers (for example, TXU) are looking to charge customers who have grid-tied systems an extra fee for the trouble!


Why is all this allowed? Why are electric companies discouraging distributed generation? The same reason that large-scale solar power plants have for years been discouraged by public utility commissions. They are a pain in the ass.

Remember what we talked about yesterday: in the electric grid, there is no reservoir. When you want more electricity, somebody needs to make it right at that moment. But if that is true for the person who wants to buy electricity, then the same is true for the person selling it: if nobody wants the electricity, you have to stop making it. 

While utilities do not have control over the amount of electricity that will be used, years of experience have shown that this is a predictable amount based on time of day, season, and weather. Regulators can look at the weather report, see its going to be 100 degrees out, and plan accordingly. Similarly, regulators can exert control over the electricity producers, asking them to turn generation assets on or off based on the condition of the grid. But renewable power generation is unpredictable AND uncontrollable.

Regulators cannot predict whether or not a single puffy cloud is going to pass over a solar array at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, knocking 10 MW of production out for 15 minutes. They cannot predict whether it is going to be an especially windy day, causing the wind turbines to make 100 MW more than they were expecting - and yes, too much supply is the same problem as too little. Instead of telling somebody to turn a gas turbine on, they need to tell them to shut one down.

Widespread distributed generation and renewable generation can cause drastic fluctuations on the supply of energy to the grid based on micro-climate factors like wind, cloud cover, and solar intensity. This is too much information for utilities to deal with, so they don't. Instead, they do whatever they can to keep renewable production as low as possible. And it has worked. Four decades of technological research, and we get less than 5% of our energy from renewable sources as a result.

But the smart grid technology will solve this problem. Smart meters will read how much power is being generated by these renewable sources and give regulators the information they need to act accordingly. It will remove the incentive to fight distributed and renewable generation, and allow lawmakers to pass laws that promote the technology without industry lobby opposition. It will enable the clean energy future that we need.