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In the last 12 months, much progress has been made with smart grid security. This past January, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) issued an updated list of standards, a preliminary cyber security strategy and other elements of a framework to support transforming the nation’s aging electric power system into an interoperable smart grid.

Many commentators are comparing the smart grid with Web 2.0. The smart grid, like Web 2.0, promises to be interoperable, collaborative and interactive, and it will collect, share and distribute vast amounts of user-originated data. When it comes to privacy, not only are the similarities striking, but far surpassing in potential impact. Web 2.0 can absorb and send out data that a user inputs into a phone or a computer. Smart grid can do the same but also can potentially reach into the home and absorb data about every electronic event in every room in the house. It can translate that data into far more intimate profiles about a consumer’s daily life. Given these obvious parallels, it makes sense to look at the lessons learned from Web 2.0 to help predict the privacy pitfalls that might arise in a smart grid environment.

Running June 8-10, 2010, POWERGRID Europe will breeze into the Dutch city of Amsterdam this year. With growing global focus on electricity transmission and distribution (T&D), POWERGRID Europe offers an inside look at industry adjustments, growing pains, experiments and successes. The two-track conference will feature worldwide vendors and leading utilities. POWERGRID Europe will offer practical information, as well as proven and potential solutions to academics, novices and experts alike, giving all a chance to interact and exchange ideas on how to grow with the interconnecting T&D marketplace.

In the telecommunications business most telephone calling and Internet surfing is done at fixed prices; the trend favors flat rates. But, there’s no flat rate for electricity, where, to an increasing extent, the ground rule is “use more, pay more.” That rule is likely to be applied even more stringently in the future.

In this economic slowdown, utilities are finding that having mobile solutions in place can pay substantial dividends in areas ranging from payment collection to increased efficiency in responding to outages and managing construction and repair.

Address credibility is a bigger problem than most utilities realize. While utilities typically have a valid premise or service address for meter placement, these addresses may not be the correct addresses for billing and customer correspondence. As a result, critical customer mailings, such as bills and disconnect notices, may not reach the customer. This leads to poor customer service, delayed collections and increased costs.

The editors of POWERGRID International magazine announced the winners for the magazine’s annual Projects of the Year awards program on March 23, 2010 during the keynote session at DistribuTECH 2010 in Tampa, Fla. POWERGRID International magazine’s annual awards are distributed to the best projects in four categories: energy efficiency/demand response, grid integration of renewables, smart grid and smart metering. Each year, the judges select winners based on five specific criteria: ingenuity, scope, practicality, vision and follow-through.

Transformer requirements change dramatically based on the application and the load. Several factors must be evaluated carefully during a selection process to ensure the unit selected meets some primary needs.