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Enterprise Technology Slideshow:
Smart Grid: 7 Reasons Why It Matters

By Tony Kontzer on 2010-03-24


With the Obama Administration having earmarked $3.4 billion in Recovery Act funds to spur the energy industry's transition to a smart energy grid, the impetus is clearly there for utilities to start making progress on this important modernization of the nation's energy delivery system. Oracle polled C-level executives from its substantial roster of energy industry clients, providing a glimpse at where the smart grid transition effort stands.

What Oracle found is that while progress may appear glacial, with just one in five utilities saying it's moving forward on system-wide smart grid deployment, many are simply in an earlier stage on that path, and most have substantial expectations regarding what the smart grid will deliver. The following slides provide a snapshot of how utility executives view the transition.


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No. 1

Reliability and efficiency are driving smart grid strategies. Executives say their top priorities are:

-improving service reliability/operational efficiency (45%) -implementing smart metering (41%) -developing demand response and energy efficiency programs (37%)

No. 2

Cynics should look closely-progress is happening. Here's where energy firms with least 100,000 customer stand in their smart grid efforts:

-49% are undertaking trials or pilot programs -21% are actively engaged in system-wide deployment -17% are conducting research or preparing cost-benefit analyses -13% are waiting to see what their peers are doing

No. 3

When it comes to initial adoption, execs are drawn to the "smart" in the smart grid. Here's what they expect to be the most adopted components initially.

-smart metering (63%) -demand response and critical peak pricing (48%) -smart distribution and/or transmission operation devices (38%)

No. 4

Utilities with 100,000 or more customers have particularly high hopes for the smart grid, with a wide range of benefits expected:

-smarter choices stemming from more/better energy usage information (82%) -reduced carbon footprint (74%) -more reliable power (60%) -reduced energy costs (62%)

No. 5

Naturally, consumers gravitate toward convenience, and utility execs don't expect anything different in predicting which smart-grid services customers will flock to:

-In-home displays for real-time access to usage and cost data (62%) -smart appliances (51%) -mobile device portals (31%)

No. 6

Modernization doesn't come cheaply, and plenty of cost concerns abound among utility execs:

-43% fear consumer reaction to rate increases -38% are concerned about the cost to comply with environmental mandates -30% are worried about how long it will take to recover the cost of improving grid infrastructure

No. 7

To help defray the mammoth costs, utility execs seem to be endorsing lots of collaboration to soften the economic blow:

-80% are calling for sharing of best practices -71% would like to see smart grid industry standards established -63% support publishing results of pilot projects and internal research

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