by Steve Carpenter
On the morning of May 15, 2008, a cheer rose up from the packed crowd inside the University Memorial Center on the University of Colorado campus in Boulder, Colo. Xcel Energy Chairman, President and CEO Dick Kelly had just announced the beginning of construction to develop Boulder into "the nation's first fully integrated SmartGridCity." The crowd that had gathered for the press conference simply could not contain its excitement.
To some, the cheer was a bit of a surprise. With the hype around the so-called Smart Grid, one would expect an audience of students, business leaders, government representatives and technologists to be more skeptical, but there in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, something was different, and the audience could sense it.
Proving the possibilities
"Throughout our service territory, we are working hard to minimize our impact on the environment," said Kelly. "We are increasing our use of renewables. We are working hard on energy conservation and efficiencies, and we are using new technologies. SmartGridCity takes all of that, puts it together in one place and will help make our vision of a clean energy future a reality."
Kelly outlined some of the major goals for the initiative, including:
- Providing consumers with up-to-the-minute information about their energy costs and then giving them the choice?based on price or on green power availability?as to when and what kind of energy they would use.
- Creating the ability to charge plug-in hybrid vehicles with wind or solar power and putting that power back into the grid during periods of high demand.
- Alerting Xcel Energy to power outages and facilitating a rapid response.
- In some cases, enabling Xcel Energy to fix power problems before consumers even know they exist.
According to Kelly, "That vision is becoming a reality, and it's happening today here in Boulder."
Behind Kelly as he outlined these goals was a subtle reminder that we had heard all of this before?a banner reading "Proving the Possibilities." In all of its optimism, the banner stood as an aide memoire that the group would have to prove SmartGridCity was more than just a vision.
Broad portfolio of technologies working toward a single goal
Actually, the SmartGridCity project was different from the beginning when, in December 2007, Xcel Energy established the Smart Grid Consortium. The utility realized that a true Smart Grid is made up of much more than smart meters ? it covers the entire value chain, from "wind to light" or "coal to cool air," and includes multiple layers of functional intelligence leading to real-time analytics, decision-making and action. Rather than following standard practice and implementing single technologies in limited pilots, Xcel Energy took a bold, innovative step: the company selected a portfolio of Smart Grid technologies in order to integrate all aspects of the Smart Grid vision in a full-scale implementation.
To accomplish this daunting task, Xcel Energy brought together leading technologists, engineering firms, business leaders and IT experts to form the Smart Grid Consortium. The members comprised an eclectic mix of consultants, broad-solution portfolio providers and innovative specialized-technology vendors.
Accenture, Current Group, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories and Ventyx signed on to provide technology, service and guidance for the initiative; GridPoint joined the group in May 2008. Members meet regularly to discuss obstacles and to develop innovative solutions to overcome these challenges. Rather than each vendor working in its own interest, consortium members are exhorted by Xcel Energy to work in the common interest of the singular vision of SmartGridCity.
It's a strategy Xcel Energy has employed successfully in the past. In 2005, the utility brought together five technology vendors to create the Utility Innovations initiative. The purpose of Utility Innovations was to leverage the creativity, knowledge and skills of each firm to develop innovations that improve customer service and better manage the assets of local electric grids. Utility Innovations provided a real-world proving ground for its members to test their technology solutions to achieve real business results.
SmartGridCity is a logical extension of the company's Utility Innovations success, but it takes this strategy a step further. For SmartGridCity to be successful, not only will each of the components have to provide individual benefits, all of the various solutions will have to work in conjunction to achieve the stated goals.
Each member plays a significant role
Accenture, the global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, will project-manage the integration and management of data flow, including automating the processes, transmission and distribution of electricity, and help Xcel Energy manage the SmartGridCity project. To implement the smart grid, Accenture will integrate diagnostic software, intelligent distribution assets and outage management systems into Xcel Energy's existing IT infrastructure.
Current Group is providing a real-time, high-speed communi-cations network and widely distributed sensing and analytic software, giving the utility the ability for real-time, two-way monitoring and communications throughout the grid and enabling interaction with each component from fuel source to end use.
GridPoint is providing an operating platform that provides Xcel Energy with control of distributed energy assets such as load management devices, energy storage technologies, PV solar systems, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Additionally, GridPoint's platform provides Xcel Energy's customers with online energy management to reduce energy consumption in the home or business according to a customer's energy preferences.
Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories provides protection, control and automation functions for the distribution network to improve circuit availability, speed service restoration following outages and facilitate the connection of distributed generation into the grid.
Ventyx is providing the asset management, workforce management, generation portfolio optimization and scheduling and customer program management software solutions required to deploy and manage the SmartGridCity.
Working together, these technologies will combine to deliver the benefits of the SmartGridCity, such as operational savings, customer-choice energy management, better grid reliability, greater energy efficiency and conservation options, increased use of renewable energy sources and support for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and intelligent-home appliances. The open standards high-speed communications network also provides a foundation for future applications.
Making the vision a reality
Xcel Energy Chief Administrative Officer and Vice President of customer and enterprise solutions Ray Gogel said, "Together with our SmartGridCity partners, we're putting the best minds to work at creating something that hasn't been done before. And, in so doing, we're expanding the energy industry's view of what is possible through innovative thought and practice.
"All of this activity is geared to create a SmartGridCity that is all about customer choice and customer control over energy use. As Smart Grid technology and products and services become available, customers can expect online tools for tracking energy use and making choices and changes that better fit their lifestyle, their conservation goals and their budgets. They can expect options to automatically manage their energy use based on real-time price signals or green power price signals. They can expect advanced smart meters that can eventually communicate with appliances within their homes for energy savings, and smart charging strategies for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles with vehicle-to-grid technology that puts power back into the grid and pulls power from the grid."
As you read this article, the SmartGridCity members are well on their way to completing the first phase of the initiative. This "demonstration phase" includes high-speed communications, monitoring and smart meters for the first group of SmartGridCity customers, and upgrades to two substations, five feeders and nearly 15,000 meters in Boulder. It involves a web portal and some in-home automation tools to provide consumers with more insight and control over their energy use and costs.
In September, the group will begin Phase II, expected to be complete by the end of the year. This phase will involve completing the installation of a distribution and communication network for the remaining areas within Boulder, including four substations, 13 feeders and additional premises. In addition, during this phase Xcel Energy will launch larger scale in-home automation installations and enable web portal access to all SmartGridCity customers. The integration of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, as well as solar and wind distributed generation sources onto Boulder's grid, will also begin. The company will start providing its customers with price and environmental signals to guide their preferences and will aggregate demand response into virtual power plants that can be dispatched at the most optimal time to meet the utility's load requirements and environmental criteria.
As you can see, there is still much work to do to implement SmartGridCity but the initiative is well on its way. In hindsight, perhaps the unbridled optimism of the press conference audience was not so surprising. Certainly, no one was more optimistic than Colorado's governor, Bill Ritter, who said at the same press conference, "SmartGridCity is a true demonstration of Xcel Energy's leadership, and I expect it will fundamentally change the way power is delivered in the 21st century." Let's hope so!
Author
Steve Carpenter is chief operating officer of Ventyx and served previously as Ventyx CTO. He holds a unique position as the only member of the Smart Grid Consortium who is also a resident of Boulder, Colo. Before joining Ventyx, Carpenter held several executive positions in software development for Infor, SSA Global, and Baan (each merging through acquisition).