Visual courtesy of Con Edison.
The smart grid transforms the current [“electricity”] grid to one that functions more cooperatively, responsively and organically. The “smart grid” is:
Intelligent: Capable of sensing system overloads and rerouting power to prevent or minimize a potential outage; of working autonomously when conditions require resolution faster than humans can respond … and cooperatively in aligning the goals of utilities, consumers and regulators.
Efficient: Capable of meeting increased consumer demand without
adding infrastructure.
Accommodating: Accepting energy from virtually any fuel source including solar and wind as easily and transparently as coal and natural gas; capable of integrating any and all better ideas and technologies — energy storage technologies, for example — as they are market-proven and ready to come online.
Motivating: Enabling real-time communication between the consumer and utility so consumers can tailor their energy consumption based on individual preferences, like price and/or environmental concerns.
Opportunistic: Creating new opportunities and markets by means
of its ability to capitalize on plug-and-play innovation wherever and
whenever appropriate.
Quality-focused: Capable of delivering the power quality necessary
— free of sags, spikes, disturbances and interruptions — to power our increasingly digital economy and the data centers, computers and electronics necessary to make it run.
Resilient: Increasingly resistant to attack and natural disasters as it becomes more decentralized and reinforced with Smart Grid security protocols.
“Green”: Slowing the advance of global climate change and offering a genuine path toward significant environmental improvement.
—from “The Smart Grid: An Introduction” by the U.S. Department of Energy
