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What a smart grid can do for you

August 10, 2009  |  Length: 00:02:04

When's the best time to run the dishwasher or do your laundry? With traditional power grids consumers can never be sure, but a smart grid can answer that question and more. SmartPlanet correspondent Sumi Das talks to Silver Spring Networks CTO Raj Vaswani about the benefits of a networked system, starting with a less expensive electricity bill.

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+1 Vote
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Where is the text?
Without text to scan, I will not do video. If I want video I'll go to U tube, so please provide text with videos. Do you want to watch these people?
Posted by sk.dunnage@...
20th Aug 2009
+1 Vote
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Smart Grid: not for the consumer
Let's get this straight: I will now need to know the exact time of day when to use electricity based on the rates - just like the "old" days of using a phone since the cost per minute was based on time of day. I'll have to purchase a computer, must subscribe to an ISP so to get onto the Internet, log onto the electric companies site, in order to see what I am using and analyze the bill and of course remember what was going on that day in order to see why 3KW more was used that day than before. I would have to purchase all new appliances that I would then have to program (and maintain) in order to use them "efficiently" and obtain a printout of their use in order to match that to the price of electricity and consumption on that day. And with all this smart stuff the price of electricity could change from hour to hour day to day every single day of the year based on what the load is and the generation capability so that the price could automatically go up to try and discourage load so that peaker plants do not have to be put online.
And this makes my life easier how?

Tom Philo
http://www.taphilo.com/tom/
Posted by TAPhilo
27th Aug 2009
+1 Vote
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RE: What a smart grid can do for you
I live at 1620 elm springs rd. Springdale,AR 72762 this sounds very promising to me. Tell me more to get my dwelling involved.NormanHarrop@gmail.com
Posted by Norman Harrop
27th Aug 2009
+1 Vote
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It doesn't make any difference if you're in California ...
... or any other place with "baseline usage" metering. You're already paying 2x the going rate for electricity at the baseline, which is calculated to be half the amount of electricity your household will actually use each month. After you've finished the month, you've been kicked into the 2nd or even 3rd rate tier, paying 4x-6x the going rate, screwing you, the retail utility consumer, out of hundreds to thousands of dollars a year, enough to pay for your kids' college education after 18 years. This is a political problem that needs to be solved first, before we get too enamored of fancy electronic "smart" meters. Thank your corrupt Public Utilities Commission and feckless legislators for this ****-up.
Posted by Tony R.
14th Sep 2009
+1 Vote
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RE: What a smart grid can do for you
re:..dunnage.. Amen.
Posted by oakleyje@...
15th Sep 2009
+1 Vote
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RE: What a smart grid can do for you
The only people who benefit from the smart grid are the people making the new meters and the power company who will now be able to fire all their meter readers and pocket all that extra money. The home consumer won't benefit at all because we don't pay for electricity based on the time of day we use it, we pay on the total amount we use during a month. The only way we would save any money is if electricity was sold to the home consumer based on when it is used and the electric companies aren't going to do that. It would cost them to much money to do and in places like Texas or Arizona if people left their A/C off during the day, when they say it costs more to make electricity, then the electric company would get hit with a huge electric surge when everybody turned them on at night so they can sleep, which means that the electric company will turn around and say that running the A/C at night now cost more than during the day. This is all a big scam to charge the customers more money so the electric companies can get some fancy new meters that don't work any better than the ones being replaced.
Posted by bill.coats64@...
15th Sep 2009
+1 Vote
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RE: What a smart grid can do for you
Come on sheeple, people. The ONLY smart grid is one that provides the power you need, WHEN you need it, WHERE you need it, AKA,,, MORE power production, not less. We are an energy dependent society, in everything we do. The 'metering' garbage is nothing more than a power ploy, people. Wise up fools.
Posted by mesomeone
15th Sep 2009
+1 Vote
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Just like our Government at work!
I am old and have learned that whenever a major company tells me it is going to save me money, it will usually cost me money.
All this technology will make them a fortune in labor savings, vehicle savings, etc. Now that I am on a fixed income, my America is falling apart. Not to get into politics, but something has to be done. I can't afford anymore savings.
Posted by alsturgis@...
15th Sep 2009
+1 Vote
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RE: What a smart grid can do for you
The video was short and meaningless-----what was the point? I understand the current systems and those in testing are not secure. Their security has holes so big that a truck can go through them. Do I want a non-secure product running things in my home? NO! That was easy. When I get security updates everyday for my PC, I have doubts how well these devices will be protected, especially in todays world of cutbacks and less staff. So, what can a smart grid do for me in today's political and economic environment---nothing.
Posted by rgoeken1@...
18th Sep 2009
+1 Vote
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Why?
The only benefit is to the utility who now can determine your 'peak" and charge accordingly. There are no savings. You will pay for unnecessary monitoring, pay for the software to teach the utility your useage patterns, pay a premium for electricity. So... how is any of this good? It is merely a ploy in an attempt to create a new market for meters and other monitoring devices for GE and others by claiming current meters obsolete. What obsolete? It measures what I use and that is all it needs to do! This is clearly a propaganda-marketing plan with governmental assistantance to artificialy raise the cost of electricity. The goal! By rasing the cost it helps to make very costly and ineffieicent alternative energy, winds & solar, more competitive. It is all fake. Its all a special interest agenda! If its not, then a power grid, smart or dumb, is totally unnecessary as local and residential generation is all that is necessary!
Posted by oag111
22nd Sep 2009
+1 Vote
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Nothing but add cost!
Smart grid will make electricity cost much much more which is the goal. Utilities and government want to artificailly re-price electricity in an effort me make costly and inefficient alternative energy, wind and solar, more competitive. Power grid compoment mfgrs are spewing this nonsense to create markets for new equipment including meters. Be sure the only ones who benefit are the mfgrs and the government taxes). By knowing your personal usage the utility can set your "personal peak". Changing your pattern just resets the peak. You will not win!

Here's the thing. If alternative energy is so viable then we don't need a smart or dumb grid. Local or residential generation would be more cost effective and solves a national power dsitribution and power security issues at the same time.
Posted by oag111
22nd Sep 2009
+1 Vote
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RE: What a smart grid can do for you
Smart grid will Finance make electricity cost much much more which is the goal. Utilities and government want to artificailly re-price electricity in an effort me make costly and inefficient alternative energy, wind and solar, more competitive. Power grid compoment mfgrs are spewing this nonsense to create markets for new equipment including meters. Be sure the only ones who benefit are the mfgrs and the government taxes). By knowing your personal usage the utility can set your "personal peak". Changing your pattern just resets the peak. You will not win!
Posted by capturetr
24th Dec 2009
+1 Vote
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RE: What a smart grid can do for you
You know, all this stuff interferes with everyday living. An example. The average home owner spends an average work day paying bills today. While part of it is because of the consumer society we've become, a lot is from more choices and competition (not really a bad thing). While I'm not against a lot of green tech, regulating all your power in a household can be time consuming. So unless someone comes up software to do the job for me, and assures me the government won't intrude on me through the grid; just give me lots of cheap power and the freedom to do what I want, when I want, in my home.
Posted by rjbrunojr@...
15th Mar 2011
+1 Vote
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RE: What a smart grid can do for you
Why do I need a meter to tell me when electricity is expensive? When it's in high demand, it's expensive. Smart meters are a scam.

I used have a time-of-meter that, I assume, measured how much electricity was being used on an hourly basis. The utility told me ahead of time what the price will be for different times of day and I adjusted my behavior accordingly. I also allowed them to control my air conditioner when necessary. Other than moving optional appliance usage to nights and weekends, when electricity was cheapest, nothing else changed. I used my air conditioner when it was hot, my heat pump when it was cold and my oven when I was hungry. I did try to plan to do things on weekends, but there is only so much you can change.
Posted by jimmy37
29th Mar 2011
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Transcript

music

>> Sumi: In many ways the energy industry has changed very little in the past 100 years. Communication of information between the consumer and the utility company remains a one-way street. But the evolution of the smart grid is poised to change that. Joining me now is CTO of Silver Spring Networks, Raj Vaswani. Raj, thanks for joining me.

>> Raj: Thanks for having me.

>> Sumi: So tell us how the work that your company is doing is looking to change that old model.

>> Raj: So at Silver Spring Networks we build communications technology and software for the soft grid. The communications technology is a wireless card that looks like this and goes inside of electric meters or other devices on the grid, like transformers or capacitor banks. What it does is allows utilities to connect much more directly with their consumers and to manage the grid better. The analogy is today, as a consumer, the way you pay for electricity is that it's as if you went to gas station, you filled up your car, and you got a bill 30 days later. You have no visibility into what you are paying at the time. What the smart grid will do for you is allow you to get that visibility.

>> Sumi: So your company is helping to establish a network for the smart grid. What benefits does that provide both the consumer as well as the utility company?

>> Raj: What the smart grid will do for you is allow the consumer to understand when electricity is expensive, what they can do to manage that. And for example, program their dishwasher or the washing machine to actually operate when electricity is cheapest.

>> Sumi: Right now it's a mystery.

>> Raj: It's a complete mystery. And so not only can we use electricity more efficiently, but we can also save consumers money.

>> Sumi: So if I signed up, when will this be available to me as a consumer?

>> Raj: Well in many cases right now. It's actually rolling out across the country, and in fact across the world as we speak, at a rate of thousands of devices per day. So depending on where you live, stay tuned, it's coming to you any minute.

>> Sumi: Raj, thank you so much for sharing your vision of what the smart grid will enable us to do.

>> Raj: My pleasure.

>> I'm Sumi Das, phonetic Thanks for watching.

==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====

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