Policy Summit Summary with a Focus on the Industrial Sector

On Sept. 14, the Alliance hosted From Power Plant to Plug & Beyond, a Capitol Hill policy summit to review the prospects of Smart Grid technology across multiple sectors.  

The program was kicked off with keynote remarks delivered by steadfast energy efficiency advocates including Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee Jon Wellinghoff, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas). Keynote speakers painted a collective picture of opportunity and possibility based on a comprehensive modernization of the U.S. power grid, which would include Smart Grid capabilities.   Keynote remarks were followed and reinforced by five panels featuring subject experts from the transportation, manufacturing and buildings sectors.

The Role of Policy in Spurring Smart Grid Adoption

 Panelists lauded the potential for energy efficiency advancements through a Smart Grid, but acknowledged that public policy remains essential in influencing the uptake of related Smart Grid technologies.

While other information technologies have been upgraded rapidly over the last two decades, the United State’s electric transmission system has not experienced the same evolution. Making the grid compatible with Smart Grid technologies will require a comprehensive upgrade strategy and significant capital investment. Additional issues requiring regulatory oversight include network security, information sharing, and energy pricing systems.

Revitalizing Industry with Smart Grid Technologies

The summit’s Smart Manufacturing panel addressed the importance of integrating modern plant networks with the Smart Grid technology to realize dynamic load shifting, demand response, and time-of-use capabilities.  

The potential for energy savings from Smart Grid technologies represents a significant competitive advantage for U.S. industry, which is responsible for up to one-third of total annual energy use in the United States.  Sujeet Chand, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Rockwell Automation, estimates that by reducing U.S. industry’s energy requirements by ten percent through an implementation of integrated efficiency measures such as load balancing systems, demand response and network controls, the sector could save up to $6 billion annually.

Smart Grid Programs in Practice

 Existing demand response programs already save firms money, explained Jan Berman, Senior Director of IDSM Policy and Integrated Planning with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).

Berman described how two companies in PG&E’s service territory, Owens-Illinois, Inc. and Gallo Family Vineyards, have realized such benefits. However, while the potential savings are substantial, the required investments will be significant. Whereas utilities may shoulder most of the costs for these upgrades, such costs will undoubtedly have to be passed on to ratepayers.

Smart Grid Influencing Energy Management

One of the collective visions for Smart Grid technology that was shared by the summit speakers was the hope that it will be the medium for a mutually beneficial relationship between energy consumers and producers across all sectors.

While progressive consumers and producers will invest and even shape the Smart Grid systems, the technology itself could also influence how consumers and producers use and manage energy. Through functions such as automated demand response and peak load balancing, consumers AND producers will grow in energy use awareness, and drive change in favor of energy efficiency, the speakers said.