I was so excited when my local utility installed my smart meter last July. I even took pictures!
A flyer from my utility promised an an energy portal “after the first of the year” through which I could view my home’s electrical consumption patterns and find ways to conserve. That portal still hasn’t come online, so I have zero visibility into my electrical usage except what I can gain my occasionally observing my meter and reading my monthly bill.
In February, somewhat disillusioned with my experience, I decided to ask the people who are building the Smart Grid what they thought it should look like from the customer’s perspective. From conversations with people throughout the distribution sector of the electrical grid, where most of the “Smart Grid action” is happening, I gleaned “Seven Lessons on the Smart Grid” — the topic of my Unplugged column in the July/August issue of Connected World Magazine.
In fact, Lesson One is: The smart grid will be mostly invisible to consumers.
Read the full article at Connected World
