The Language of Smart City, part II
As in all Utopias, the right to have plans of any significance belonged only to the planner in charge. Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961) Illustration: Oliver Munday In a…
The Language of Smart City, part I
We want our tools to sing of not just productivity but of our love of curiosity, the joy of wonderment, and the freshness of the unknown. —Eric Paulos, “Manifesto of Open Disruption and Participation” Illustration:…
NA utilities looking to cellular network for smart grid
In recent years, there has been an upsurge of interest in public cellular networks for smart grid communications, which is slowly gaining acceptance and momentum across the world, becoming as common as power line communications…
California’s IOUs plan to offer time-of-use rates
Customers’ acceptance or resistance to time-of-use-rates hinges on two key factors—how well the rates are designed, and how effectively they are marketed—according to Peter Cappers, a research scientist with the Electric Markets and Policy Group…
Smart grid and the connection to smart cities
Modernizing the nation’s electric grid is paying dividends for many utilities. Ongoing population growth and economic development in urban metropolitan areas makes meeting the growing demand for electricity a perpetual challenge. Utility experts advocate a…
Utility X.0
Although tomorrow’s Utility X.0 will still depend heavily on central generation plants, it will also include more renewable generation, storage, distributed generation and electric vehicles. Utility X.0 will need to manage such widely distributed systems,…
Can Google speed the growth of smart thermostats?
During the recent smart grid frenzy, smart thermostats (also known as programmable communicating thermostats or PCTs) developed in popularity alongside announcements of ambitious smart meter rollouts and demand response (DR) programs. Smart thermostats utilize integrated…
Distribution Utilities at a Crossroad
Globally, distribution utilities are rapidly incorporating standards-based smart grid protection and control technologies into their asset base. But they and their regulators still face challenges in terms of marketing products and seeing them accepted by…
