California heat wave: Demand response worked, grid numbers indicate

On Sept. 27 downtown Los Angeles hit its all-time temperature record: 113° F. That same day San Diego Electric & Gas hit its all-time system peak demand (in terms of megawatts). Farther north, in Pacific Gas & Electric territory, the weather was also hot but not nearly so extreme — which helped keep the overall load on California’s power grid manageable (but still very high).

To cope with such extreme demand for electricity, California utilities activated a variety of demand response programs. These included default dynamic pricing for all large customers (min. 200 kW) as well as many intermediate customers (20-200 kW), air conditioning load control, and interruptible power.

It looks like these demand response measures succeeded — but decide for yourself. Here’s a chart that tells the story…

Full story: California heat wave: Numbers from the grid indicate demand response success

Smart Meter Privacy: California’s New Landmark Law

On Sept. 29 California Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law new privacy protections for consumers’ energy use data. This is huge news for smart metering.

Most importantly, the new law (CA Senate Bill 1476) addresses disclosure and protectiion — two key issues for many consumers and consumer groups who have voiced concern about potential uses (or misuses) of their detailed energy use data.

Furthermore, this law serves as an excellent example that other states and nations should consider as they adopt their own privacy regulations for smart meters and the smart grid.

More about this law’s key provisions…

Full story: California’s New Landmark Smart Meter Privacy Law

How low-income consumers benefit from dynamic energy pricing

Low-income energy consumers have a strong motivation to cut their utility bills. But can they respond effectively to dynamic energy prices in order to reduce their peak load and save money? Yes they can, according to a new report from the Edison Foundation Institute for Energy Efficiency…

Full story: Low Income Consumers Benefit from Dynamic Pricing

Smart grid: California moves to protect consumer data privacy

Privacy often tops the list of consumer concerns about smart meters and the smart grid. This is not surprising, given that a recent Consumer Reports poll indicated that only 61% of Americans are confident that what they do online is private and not shared without their permission.

On Sept. 27, the California Public Utilities Commission published a key ruling about smart meter privacy. This could influence how other states handle this thorny issue…

Full story: California moves to protect consumer energy data privacy

New report clarifies smart grid benefits, technologies, companies

The “smart grid” — what is it, exactly? It’s widely discussed. It promises tremendous consumer, environmental, and reliability benefits. But still, so far, it’s generally neither widely understood nor clearly defined.

The US Department of Energy is working to change that. This week, Energy Secretary Chu released a must-read report commissioned from the Cleantech Group: 2010 US Smart Grid Vendor Ecosystem Report.

This report is a key reference document for anyone trying to understand the smart grid. It’s clear. It’s direct. It’s factually based. It’s comprehensive, but succinct. It explains why the smart grid matters. And it’s not too technical…

Full story: What is the smart grid? New report clarifies benefits, technologies, companies

Italy: Smart meters for natural gas coming soon

Early on, Italy took the lead in European smart meter deployment. For now, Sweden has overtaken Italy on that front — but Italy is moving fast on its rollout of smart meters for natural gas…

Full story: Smart meters for natural gas: Italy forges ahead

British Gas customers are pleased with their smart meters

US energy consumers can be testy — for instance, in California about 1,000 of Pacific Gas & Electric’s 8 million customers have complained of problems related to smart meters. But in other parts of the world, energy consumers seem quite pleased with their smart meters.

Today at the world’s largest metering conference (Metering Europe, held in Vienna, Austria) Petter Allison (director of smart metering for British Gas) reported that an amazing 94% of their consumers who have received smart meters report that they are “happy” with the upgrade.

So far, Allison’s Smart Meter Operations Department has deployed over 150,000 meters toward a 2 million meter commitment by 2012. They also expect to have 15 million electric and gas smart meters installed before 2020 (the UK statutory deadline).

Why are UK consumers happy with their smart meters? Allison listed several reasons…

Full story: Most British Gas customers are happy with their smart meters

Germany: Steps toward time-of-use energy pricing, consumer engagement

In Germany, time-of-use pricing is getting easier for consumers and electricity retailers.

This summer, Germany’s Federal Network Agency (which regulates electric and natural gas utilities) released a position paper outlining the minimum requirements for electricity and gas meters to reflect how much energy consumers use, and when they use it…

Full story: Germany: Progress toward time-of-use energy pricing, consumer engagement

France accelerates smart meter deployment

Recently one of the world’s innovators, France, quietly issued a smart meter decree which accelerates that country’s deployment of smart meters. Now, 95% of smart meters must be deployed by the end of 2016 — well in advance of the European Union requirement of 80% by 2020.

Full story: Heard here first: French smart meter decree

Smart meter technology: Trends and predictions

Recently TMCnet CEO Rich Tehrani interviewed me about smart meter technology trends. Here are some highlights from our discussion…

1. Smart meter deployment is the most significant trend affecting the utility market: The data and control capabilities made possible by smart meters will transform the customer’s ability to manage energy — including responding to solar and wind needs.

This will also transform the utility IT world from one of siloed applications to fully integrated applications which share data, messaging, and communications capability from the smart meter network.

More highlights: Smart meter technology: Biggest trends, bold predictions