Three of the nation’s top five utilities for smart grid growth are located in California, while the other two come from Texas, Austin Energy being one of them. So reveals the inaugural UtiliQ ranking of the nation’s 25 most “intelligent” utilities by IDC Energy Insights and Intelligent Utility magazine.

“The California and Texas utilities are at the top of the list primarily because those states have either mandated or incented their utilities to make investments in renewable energy, smart metering and energy efficiency,” Rick Nicholson, vice president of IDC Energy Insights, told SolveClimate.

 

San Diego-based Fortune 500 Sempra Energy finished first.

In 2008, the company installed 4,500 smart devices on San Diego homes and businesses, making it one of the first utilities in America to meter up its customers. The move was a first step in a half a billion dollar effort to convert 1.4 million aging meters by the end of 2011.

This month, Sempra subsidiary San Diego Gas & Electric was picked as a part of a $99.8 million federal grant to help make the city’s grid plug-in ready for the cars of the future.

According to IDC Energy Insights, all 25 utilities in its ranking have made moves into the smart grid space. All could be lead players in the transition toward a new energy economy.

But that optimism shouldn’t detract from the main point of the analysis: that today’s smart grid hype must be separated from reality. Utilities are anticipated to be the drivers behind mass smart-grid adoption. And the truth is, none of the nation’s “intelligent” utilities is even close to being all the way there. Many still lack a long-term smart-grid roadmap.

In other words, it’s still anyone’s game.

Take Xcel Energy, Colorado’s largest utility. Number 14 in IDC Energy Insights’ 2009 list, it could rapidly rise through the ranks with its seminal project to turn Boulder, Colo., into the world’s first fully integrated smart-grid city by year’s end.

Winners and losers aside, what’s clear is that transforming the power network into a smart grid is inevitable in a carbon-regulated and cleaner energy economy. Case in point: Denmark. The nation gets 32 percent of its power from wind, and it’s about two decades ahead of the U.S. in terms of a smarter grid system. In fact, America is about a decade behind most of Europe.

America’s current grid is a dirty energy suck. It was built with one purpose in mind: to send cheap electricity from the utilities into the nation’s homes. The unfortunate result is that enormous amounts of energy goes to waste each day.

Smart grids are seen as a vital cure. They allow for the inclusion of digital communications, renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies into the power network. The primary goal is energy savings, especially during expensive periods of peak demand.

The most promising tidbit is that it’s all technologically possible.

The digital communications let consumers see how much energy they’re consuming in real time through visual feedback displayed on smart meters. That includes which appliances are gobbling up the most juice. The idea is to make users price sensitive and change their usage patterns, even unplugging when prices are high. The research shows that exposing this information works. When customers have real-time data of their energy use, consumption can fall by as much as 10 percent.

Smart grids add up to big savings in customers’ energy bills. For utilities, they translate into less of a need for building new (and expensive) polluting power plants.

The IDC Energy Insights ranking was based on five quantifiable “intelligence metrics.”

They are:

• Productivity: An intelligent utility is an efficient utility (measured by revenue per employee).

• Renewable energy: An intelligent utility has a commitment to renewable energy as part of its resource portfolio (measured by renewable energy sales, renewable energy customers and renewable capacity).

• Smart initiatives: An intelligent utility makes investments in developing smarter grids (measured by smart meter deployments and other smart grid projects).

• Demand response/energy efficiency (DR/EE): An intelligent utility allows consumers to manage their energy usage and costs (measured by the availability of energy efficiency, demand response and load management programs).

• IT investment: An intelligent utility invests in information technology to enable business process improvement (measured by IT spending as a percent of revenue and on a per employee basis).

 

The three companies with utility intelligence quotients (IQs) of over 140 — Sempra Energy, Austin Energy and Edison International — are at near genius level compared with the rest of the industry, IDC Energy Insights says. As smart grid fever catches on, and it will, they anticipate more “geniuses” to emerge.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act should help. The bill earmarked $4.5 billion in direct funding for smart grid development. GridWise Alliance, a 90-member coalition of companies and organizations, called the funds “a tremendous start.” The DOE announced the first Financial Assistance Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) for a $3.4 billion chunk of that money in June. The grant program will fund up to 50 percent of the cost of qualifying projects.

According to IDC Energy Insights, those stimulus dollars, along with other key government policies, are essential for rapid deployment of smarter grids.

“We believe that a smart grid revolution is indeed underway in the U.S. Much of the timing will depend on how quickly the DOE awards the smart grid stimulus funds to utilities. It will also depend on other key policy initiatives like the proposed carbon cap-and-trade program and Federal combined renewable and efficiency standard.

IDC Energy Insights recently developed a forecast of smart grid technology spending showing that it will be a $17.5 billion market in North America by 2013,” said Nicholson.

 

At least one other crucial hurdle will have to be crossed to get there: the lack of national standards for smart grid technology. These are still being written by the National Institute for Standards and Technology, meaning early adopters may risk having to change some of their technology. The NIST hopes to have rules for interoperability of systems sketched out by the end of the year.

Even without standards is tow, though, there’s a big unsung perk in freeing up the stimulus dollars today: new jobs. Many smart-grid jobs are “shovel ready,” and should begin flowing as soon as the billions are unleashed.

According to an analysis by energy consultant and GridWise member KEMA, a $16 billion smart grid investment would result in the direct creation of approximately 280,000 new positions across various sectors. More than 150,000 would be created by the end of 2009 alone.

“A smart grid will enable a transformed electric supply sector and related job creation; incentivize a strong domestic market for U.S. smart grid technology firms; and create high value permanent positions in the energy economy,” said Katherine Hamilton, President of the GridWise Alliance.

 ABOUT:

Green Collar Operations – www.greencollaroperations.com offers energy efficiency, weatherization, radiant barrier and attic insulation in Austin TX.

Mayor White’s goals are to have Houston become more energy independent for basic security reasons and to be in control of our energy future. Doing so, would require following the lead of other cities and municipalities such as Austin Energy’s energy rebate program in order to reduce polution. He also put an emphasis on energy efficiency measures that would not be a burden to low income households. He proposes three main mechanisms to meet these goals:

1. Cutting the amount of fuel we use in vehicle travel, while doing so in such as way that would not restrict travel — i.e. getting more energy utilization or energy efficiency out of vehicles.  
2. Reducing energy consumption and increasing the energy efficiency of buildings and homes. Weatherization programs, and other energy efficiency programs similar to the oen provided by Austin Energy is an example of how Houston can cut down on the amount of energy consumption their homes and buildings use.

      3. Decrease the amount of power we get from coal and substitute that power with cleaner sources. Very similar to Austin Energy’s Green Choice program.  http://www.austinenergy.com/Energy%20Efficiency/Programs/Green%20Choice/index.htm

Despite some prevailing skepticism, Mayor White believes that Houston can actually continue consuming energy if they do so in an energy efficient manner. Increased Energy efficiency through building codes (similar to those of Austin where new homes are required to have a radiant barrier and sales of homes require an ECAD  – Energy Audit,Conservation and Disclosure prior to sale) , increased fuel efficiency standards for vehicles (The City of Austin has a rebate program for electric vehicles) , as well as the use of  cost-effective renewables.

For more information on Austin Energy Rebates, please visit

www.greencollaroperations.com

These type of weatherization programs have existed for over 30 years, but this is the first time that the Davis-Bacon rules have been applied. As a result, states such as Texas have been waiting for the Department of Labor to set guidelines on wage rates.

Additionally, because of the large influx of money that has been alloted for energy efficiency and weatherization improvements, many of the local community centers and programs did not have the infrastructure in place to handle the expansion. But cities like Austin, TX have had energy efficiency programs and home improvement rebates available for some time. And as a result, companies in town such as Green Collar Operations do have the infrastructure in place to handle the increased demand.

“We are excited with the opportunity we see out there to make even more homes energy efficient,” Said Gene Bautista, who manages 3 crews for Green Collar Operations. ” I have been doing this for over 6 years, and I have never seen so much interest for energy efficiency, radiant barrier and other weatherization improvements.”

But it is not just Green Collar Operations that is excited about the weatherization funds. Other companies and non-profits will be benefiting as well. In fact, The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) recently announced major awards to the City of Georgetown and two regional nonprofit organizations designed to generate a wide array of jobs that will help jump start the state’s construction industry, while increasing home energy efficiency for low income households, reducing their cost burden, and creating a healthier environment.

About:

Green Collar Operations. www.greencollaroperations.com

About The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs is the state agency responsible for affordable housing, community services, energy assistance, colonia housing programs, and disaster recovery housing programs. It currently administers over $1 billion through for-profit, nonprofit, and local government partnerships to deliver local housing and community-based opportunities and assistance to Texans in need.

Obviously this is a great return on investment. But what type of energy efficiency measures are they talking about?
Well, for one, many of the same measures that Austin Energy rebates on: i.e. Radiant Barrier, Attic Insulation, Weatherization, Duct Sealing and more…..

Here is a link to the energy efficiency report / Study:
http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/electricpowernaturalgas/US_energy_efficiency/

For an example of a company doing this type of work in Austin TX, check out
www.greencollaroperations.com