Demand response “allows energy users of all kinds to act as “virtual power plants,” adding stability to the grid by voluntarily lowering their demand for electricity,” according to enernoc.com. “Demand response energy reduction measures are customized for each facility and can include turning off lighting, air conditioning, pumps, and other non-essential equipment.”
When electricity was finally harnessed it opened many new doors for human advancement, but without access to this new resource development would be impossible. Enter the US electric grid, a series of generation plants and transmission lines first built in the 1890′s to spread this powerful technology.
Since it’s beginnings in the 1890′s the grid has been updated, enhanced, tweaked, and modified, but the infrastructure itself remains mostly the same. As the framework is over one-hundred years old the system is barely coping with the huge demands we place on it on a daily basis.
To counteract this increase in demand on an old system the US is working on what is known as the “Smart Grid”. This modern system is being designed from the ground up to take a 21′st century approach the power distribution. In addition to accommodating for the increased, (and continually increasing) demands the Smart Grid is being built to reduce costs in all aspects of the three phase power distribution.
Incorporating computers and self monitoring systems into the new grid is where the Smart Grid really brings a old resource into the modern world. By having the system monitor itself the Smart Grid will be able to reroute power when there are outages, inform consumers of their peak usage, prepare the system for peak hours, alert workers to location of outages and overloads and help prevent surges.
While the power industry majorly benefits from this new system it is the consumers who get the best deal. Being able to monitor your power usage on a hourly basis helps keep people informed as where they use the most. The self monitoring system helps reduce cost by preventing peak overloads, and dispersing power around outages as well as reducing maintenance costs to the power companies which reduces the cost of power further.
The other area where the Smart Grid flourishes is in renewable energy. In addition to the money saving and self monitoring nature of they system, this new power distribution grid is being designed to accommodate renewable sources of energy. Smart has a whole new meaning when it comes to the addition of renewable energy. The grid will better accommodate houses with solar panels, existing wind-farms and allow for an increase in power generating technologies that will help us fight global warming.
The Smart Grid gives us new hope for the security and success of our country, after it is fully implemented the backbone of our technology industry will be stronger and every day life will have a guaranteed availability of power.
Sources:
http://www.enernoc.com/our-resources/term-pages/what-is-demand-response
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/demand-response.htm
http://energy.gov/oe/technology-development/smart-grid