GridPoint: Making Cities Smarter

Edison might have been the grandfather of modern electrical engineering, but according to clean tech energy company GridPoint Inc., it really is time to reinvent the wheel.

Enter GridPoint’s SmartGrid platform, which modernizes the traditional grid with technology that opens communication between utility companies and customers, thus increasing efficiency and reducing stress on the environment.

While the idea of a modernized, ‘intelligent’ overlay (one that is self-correcting and able to prevent errors in the network) to the traditional grid may seem futuristic, GridPoint’s technology is about to be realized in a major overhaul of Boulder, CO. Called SmartGridCity, the project, led by Xcel Energy Co., is entering the construction phase of a complete redesign of Boulder’s electrical infrastructure. When fully implemented in December 2009, SmartGridCity will deliver customers a portfolio of technologies providing environmental, financial and operational benefits.

And this is where GridPoint’s advanced technology comes into play. Its smart grid platform applies information technology to the electric grid to empower utilities to optimize grid management, increase grid reliability, promote environmental stewardship and fuel the adoption of renewable energy sources. For consumers, the platform performs a number of functions. First, it protects against power outages and provides automatic, battery-based backup power. Second, it integrates renewable energy – a function that becomes more and more necessary as renewable energy gains popularity. Third, it offers customers a way to manage their own energy use by offering them insight into their energy-using habits, as well as an online interface through which to adjust energy supply accordingly.

What these technologies amount to is an energy system that allows the customer to “communicate” with the source of energy, and use it more efficiently. The benefits of this system – to the environment and to communities – promise an efficient solution to some of the quirks of Edison’s traditional grid.

But the real people to ask are the residents of Boulder, who will be living the SmartGrid lifestyle sooner than later.