According to a US DOE report, the United States energy grid is 99.97% reliable. One of the major goals of the smart grid initiative is to increase this reliability.
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Current energy grid visualization technologies are generally restricted to the individual utility level. The smart grid should allow real-time, two way data exchange across transmission lines & utilities that will result in a more holistic view of the energy grid. This can break the current grid’s, limited situational awareness. A grid visualization, smart grid style, [...] The US Department of Energy estimates that Smart Grid enhancements will ease congestion and increase energy utilization. This will allow utilities to send 50% to 300% more electricity through existing energy corridors. The smart grid will never arrive if investment in the US energy grid continues to decrease. Look at the declining investment dollars in the transmission infrastructure from this US DOE chart: Decreasing Investment in US Energy Transmission The real break through for the US smart grid will occur when two-way digital communication and plug-and-play cababilities become reality. Source: US DOE: “The Smart Grid: An Introduction” According to the US Department of Energy, power outages are impacting a larger number of energy users than they did in the past: “41% more outages affected 50,000 or more consumers in the second half of the 1990s than in the first half of the decade. The “average” outage affected 15 percent more consumers from 1996 to 2000 than from [...] The US DOE states that a mere 5% increase inefficiency in the United States energy grid would result in energy savings equivalent to the fuel and greenhouse gas emissions from 53 million cars! The energy savings from a smarter grid could be huge, and may well be worth the investment in the smart grid. According to the United States Department of Energy, “Since 1982, growth in peak demand for electricity – driven by population growth, bigger houses, bigger TVs, more air conditioners and more computers – has exceeded transmission growth by almost 25% every year.” Source: The US DOE report, “The Smart Grid: An Introduction.” Will a smart grid apps help reduce the growth [...] only 668 Since 2000, only 668 additional miles of interstate transmission have been built. If the United States is to increase the amount of energy that comes from renewal resource like wind, new transmission lines are going to have to be built! Additionally, these new transmission lines need to be smart [...] Despite the US energy grid’s reliability rating of 99.97%, outages and interruptions cost Americans over $500 billion per year. Source: US DOE report, “The Smart Grid: An Introduction.” |
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