Grid Locked

August 29, 2008

This article in the current issue of MIT's Technology Review may be a little fluffy, a little too pie in the sky, but it does get you thinking about the normally-rather-abstract "grid" in ways that are a little more approachable.

First, the numbers are very big:

• 160 new power plants if "everyone" gets a Volt plug-in electric car and wants to charge at the same time
• Poor relia­bility of the electric grid costs the U.S. economy $100 billion today, but a $200 billion investment in it would generate $2 trillion in annual GDP by 2020

But as the author Peter Corsell is also the founder of grid management software start-up, GridPoint, you get a feel for how internet usage and network management models could be usefully applied to improving the operation and efficiency of the power grid. My suspicion, though, is that those hundreds of billions required to bring the grid out of the stone age have less to do with advanced technology and IT, and more to do with installing many thousand of miles of seriously big fat pipes.

Earlier this week this NY Times article focused on how the frailty of the current grid is hampering distribution of wind (and other)power all over the country, quoting New Mexico governor and former DOE Secretary Bill Richardson as saying "we still have a third world grid". Let's hope solutions like Corsell's GridPoint can help us squeeze more performance out of the current grid and buy some time for the real construction that's got to happen soon.

Photo courtesy of Dorothy Delina Porter

Comments

[stomv]

The challenge is states' interests. If my state has cheap power [hydro and wind] and the adjacent state doesn't, then by building more power lines in my state to export that power, what happens? The market for electric power in my state is opened up. Now, more dollars are chasing my cheap supply, bringing up prices for the ratepayers in my state.

This is a long term challenge -- new transmission lines crossing state lines is really tough to get done.

In the short term, there isn't even enough power within states, including getting the wind from upstate NY downstate. Hopefully a combination of public and private investment will get transmission lines set up within individual states. After all, even the state with the largest percentage of wind power [Iowa] only gets 5.5% of their power from wind -- so it's not like we're anywhere near a state being ready to export green power. When states like the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Iowa really do start building out capacity, expect big lines to run to Chicago as part of a regional treaty. That'll keep the wind power center busy for a long time.

We might see the same thing happen in the Southwest eventually, although their curve is behind wind. Arizona and Nevada will feed California, and New Mexico could feed TX, CO, and/or CA via AZ.

At that point, we don't need a national revamped grid to feed the power demands of over 32% of American citizens -- just connect the power centers to the nearest state with a big city, and you're making tremendous progress.

As for the problem with plug load on EV cars, it's solved quite simply by moving residential meters to static time-based meters. 7am-7pm: high rate. 7pm-7am: low rate. The charger will be easily programmed to only kick on some random moment between 7pm and 8pm [to prevent a huge spike]. Why will people do it? Big enough difference in their electric bills.

The smart grid is a great idea, and it ought to get rolled out. But, it's not the holdup right now. We can get 1/3 of the country on clean energy with a few small intra-state compacts, and the grid will be able to encourage off-peak Volt charging by using electric meters which are time dependent.