Is Smart Grid the Next Green-tech Bubble?

Interesting idea, however to every idea there is a dark side.

To make the grid work effectively they have to know what is out there, better known as geographic Information systems (GIS) and this is where most electrical utilities fall down, they play cheap. For the system to work effectively everything has to be captured, right down to the last nut and bolt, and when it was installed. This is a massive task, and takes a lot of manpower (person power?), however once completed the cost savings over the years far out-weight the cost. Sort of like underground distribution vs overhead, underground cost more up front, far less in maintenance.

Bubble? You bet, companies are going to be coming out of he wood work, few will actually know what they are doing, most will be lead by has been electrical engineers who, because of all the years they have been working in a utility, have lost any clue how to think out of the box. Most don't even know a world exists outside the box. So lots of old ways of doing things that have not worked well in the past are going to be trotted out with an IT component attached and in the end yet another bubble will burst.

Yes, I am available, I worked for an electrical utility for 15 years, took that long to realize they would never change. I have never been in the box and the attitude drove me crazy, quite literally

Send me a PM if you want help making an electrical utility work, be be prepared for some off the wall thinking.

To hear most of the people in the US media talk, the "smart grid" is a new idea which originated with the present administration. However, my local utility announced in January that it had installed it's one millionth "smart meter". The buildout to a smart & more efficient grid has been progressing for years. It has been a slow process because of the great cost involved. (Politicians love to take credit for other peoples' accomplishment- the internet, for example.)

Will it be a bubble? If the move to a smart grid were dependent on government funding, the answer would be yes - when the government funding runs out, the market collapses. Fortunately, the smart grid is a project US electric utilities are working toward whether or not tax money is used to pay for it. As such, the effort will be sustained.

I agree with your assertion, however there will be an associated growth of companies who will try to take advantage of available funding. A lot of money is going to be wasted on these companies, and a lot of garbage will float to the top.

Te basics are there, and the smart utilities will carry on like normal and eventually a system will be in place, let's hope they don't forget to install some robust security.