Utilities Must be Able to Decide on Communications Networks for Smart Grid, Says DOE Official
The Department of Energy hasn’t drawn any “hard conclusions” on whether utilities should build their own communications networks or rely on commercial networks for smart grid applications, following two smart grid proceedings, DOE General Counsel Scott Harris said Tuesday. The department is leaning toward the position that the utilities should be able to decide on what type of networks they need for smart grid, he told the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington. Harris briefed the center on the department’s conclusions in proceedings on smart grid communications needs of utilities and data access and privacy issues related to smart meters.
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There was agreement in stakeholder comments that the smart grid will create new demand for a wide array of communications services, that wasn’t the case on the question of whether utilities should build their own networks or use public networks, Harris said. Utilities’ need to build their own networks instead of using commercial ones depends on the smart grid applications they are to be used for and where the technology is being deployed, he said.
Latency in smart meter reading may not be a big issue but latency in grid applications could be, Harris said. Some smart grid deployments are near the “footprints” of commercial networks, while others are in remote areas where public networks are “less available,” he said. Two major issues raised by utilities were reliability and the availability of spectrum for wireless networks, he said. Utilities contend that commercial networks don’t have backup power for emergency situations and can’t prioritize spectrum for utility services on networks, he said. The DOE will review national telecom service priority and wireless priority access programs in light of priority of service issues raised in the proceedings, he said.
The department also intends to work with other federal agencies on spectrum issues related to the smart grid, Harris said. The DOE wants utilities to be better represented on federal agencies and committees dealing with spectrum issues, he said. To enable utilities to easily access “communications opportunities,” the DOE will start a Web portal that will serve as a clearinghouse on communications, he said.
On privacy and data access issues, Harris said he was surprised to see the “broad agreement” on a wide range of them. They included: (1) Consumer education and flexibility in smart grid technology and the pace of deployment is critical to long-term success of smart meters. (2) Utilities must have access to consumer energy use data and consumers must have access to their own data. (3) Utilities should not provide consumer data to third-party service providers without consumer agreement via an opt-in process and such service providers must be required to protect such data themselves. Contentious issues included whether electronic or written authorization is needed for third-party access to data and what consumer data should be provided to third-party service providers, he said.
Harris said he’s convinced that smart grid technology will help families to cut energy use and bills but the challenge for proponents is to communicate effectively the benefits to the “public at large.”