With the continual evolution of electrical grids, the idea of smart grids is not only on the rise, but is becoming a frequent conversation topic in the telecommunications industry, evidenced by the highly anticipated TMC’s (News - Alert) Smart Grid Summit at the ITEXPO West held last week in Los Angeles.

 

Smarter Technology’s Dave Greenfield recently commented on the future of electrical grids after attending the smart grid summit saying that, while it’s evident that electrical grids need a boost, there’s much debate over how to go about perfecting such a structured system.

 

And, since the IT industry can’t ignore the reoccurring topic, a heated debate between the telecom and Internet proponents and the traditional utility providers caused a stir at the summit discussing this issue.

 

The main topic at the summit: the reuse of existing IP standard – Session Initial Protocol – in the future of power grids.

 

However, the issue lies in how much – or little – traditional utility providers will be involved.

 

Greenfield said that the first step toward addressing the problem is conserving power – the main aim of smart grid technology. “Key to that effort is creating a new generation of electrical meters,” said Greenfield, who discussed Automated Metering Interface, or “AMI,” and how customers can receive real-time, or near-real-time, information on electricity consumption on a monthly basis.

 

That way, individuals or utility companies can hold the dice in terms of executing decisions about their electrical systems.

 

However, in order to accomplish this, the meter must exchange pertinent information to the utility in order to moderate usage. The “how” in regards to AMI’s gathering information is still up for discussion. Currently, Greenfield said there’s a substantial disagreement over how to achieve interoperability.

 

TMC reported that home energy management systems brought on by the smart grid are beneficial both financially and environmentally.

 

“With proper energy management, homes can be more energy-efficient, comfortable and secure,” said Henning Schulzrinne (News - Alert), a professor at Columbia University. “For example, occupancy sensors, combined with schedule predictors, can turn down heating or air conditioning when people are at work, reducing energy expenses.”

 

Schulzrinne predicts that home energy management will become increasingly popular as homes begin to provide their own electricity typically via solar, and story energy via plug-in hybrid vehicles, and that maintenance is little to none.

 

At the summit, Richard Shockey (News - Alert), chair of the SIP forum technical working group, said that SIP, while argued by some, is critical for telecom providers in the SmartGrid architecture.

 

“SIP has 10 years of development built into it. XMPP could be extended, potentially, but no other protocol set has the development of SIP,” Shockey said.

 

The adoption of SIP, while logical in a number of areas, particularly given its ability to be extended to address a wide range of environments, is also critical for telecom providers, said Greenfield.

 

It seems as if New York is jumping on the smart grid boat, with the recent New York State Smart Grid Consortium that commenced on Aug. 25 through Governor Paterson’s efforts to develop a plan to deploy the most energy effective smart grid technologies in New York.