Gridwise: merging information technology and energy.(Management Information Systems)

EUN's looks at the energy industry's future, especially through tiffs column, include many variations on a theme. Gridwise is a further refinement of these postulations. The term will recur as EUN chronicles new developments in the relationship between the national electricity system and its architecture and information technology, networking, and the Internet. Gridwise is a new Department of Energy Office of Electricity Transmission and Distribution (DOE O-ETD) initiative to stimulate development and adoption of an intelligent energy system that will make more effective use of transmission and distribution assets.

The Gridwise initiative will produce not only a more reliable grid but also significant energy efficiencies. The DOE O-ETD is the first new office created within the DOE in years, which demonstrates the priority attached to this project. A team of national experts, called the Gridwise Architecture Board and selected by the Pacific Northwest National Labs, will advise the DOE. I have been invited to sit on the Gridwise Architecture Board and plan to keep EUN's readers well informed of its activities.

The August 14, 2003, blackout, caused extensive discussion in the media and on Capital Hill about the need for electricity reliability. Many of us who have been in this business for decades see other signs of a looming energy crisis, which could lead to widespread popular focus on energy issues. Such attention can spur the kind of energy savings that were achieved in the 1970s and 1980s. Gridwise has even greater potential. Just as the Internet has had an unprecedented impact on home and work life, Gridwise could transform the energy business as we know it today.

The goals of the Gridwise initiative are lofty, but the opportunity is substantial Consider that at any given point in time, 75% of generating capacity can meet the nation's peak demand requirements. Yet there are plans to spend $450 billion to build new power plants over the next 20 years. New power plants will be necessary in places where electric transmission and distribution is not adequate, which underscores the need for the new DOE O-ETD office. This office's Gridwise effort makes possible an intelligent grid that could make better use of existing generation, thus delaying or avoiding the need to build new power plants. Early estimates are that wiser use of the Grid could save 10% of the $450 billion needed for constructing power plants and another $10 billion in user energy costs.

An earlier Energy Online column discussed a good example of an intelligent grid project done by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Monitoring, control, and information management technology was demonstrated in five large commercial buildings in California. Automated demand response was achieved by sending an XML-based electric price signal to building control and energy information systems. Technical development and software programming at each site implemented a range of strategies like unloading chillers and enabling day lighting to reduce electrical demand. The sites varied by building type and had integrated systems for real-time building automation and energy management. System strategies were executed when an Internet-based price signal message was received. These Web-based price increase signals were fictitious but allowed for evaluation of automatic real-time demand response strategies. The project was an overwhelming success, with reductions of up to 50 kilowatts in demand at each building during test periods. Gridwise ...