On Sharks, Data Doors, Smart Grid and Broadband

Nick Sinai has been working at the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) for almost a full month now. And, he's already had his first test of office: gathering vendors, utilities and thought leaders for a webcast on broadband and the smart grid.

He managed an impressive list for a newbie: Eric Lightner, director of the Federal Smart Grid Task Force for the U.S. Department of Energy; Dean Prochaska, national coordinator for smart grid conformance with the NIST; Mark Dudzinski, CMO of GE Energy; Eric Miller, SVP of solutions at Trilliant; Henry Jones chief scientist with our old friends SmartSynch; Joby Lafky, program manager of an electric vehicle management platform at Gridpoint; and Jason Griffith, director of IT telecom engineering with AEP.

Sinai started the show by admitting that there are a lot of varying definitions of a smart grid.

"Sometimes it's hard to understand what the smart grid means," he stated. "But, all elements that I've seen have a communication requirement."

And communication was the central point of this webcast (which would be obvious to anyone looking at the speaker line-up without even a glance at the title).

Sinai continued: "Having worked both in communication and energies, I can tell you that both are essential services. Both built reliable networks. But, there are some differences. There's been tremendous innovation in communications, but perhaps less so in electric power. Spending is pretty low. It's been said that dog food makers spend more money on research than the power industry."

The dog food makers weren't available for comment about that statement, but it is a common industry comment that our R&D money is a little light. And one area that will need significant cash to smooth the way for the smart grid is communication.

In the meeting, most speakers were adamant that we must roll out the smart grid train from a new, shiny and well-polished communications station.

Dean Prochaska with NIST confirmed this: "Wireless communication for smart grid is an area we need to hone in on during our action plan."

But, it's all not quite as simple as laying out cash. There are problems. According to Mark Dudzinski of GE these fall into two areas: volumes of data and speed of data.

For those of you out in cyber space not "up" on the communications requirements of the smart grid, let's stop here for a little allegory. Think of the grid as a series of tunnels, linear and sealed off by a series of doors. (If you've seen "Jaws 3," just picture all those underwater observation tubes the cardboard-cutout 3D shark attacks at the end of the worst Dennis Quaid flick ever made.)

Now, when the very angry shark in "Jaws 3" rammed the tubes, all sorts of doors slammed down to seal off areas to keep water from drowning the people still inside. But, take away the teeth-heavy shark and all that water and you have an idea of the urgency with the smart grid "tunnels." Doors will slam. Regularly. With urgency.

Think of those people as data, and we need to get those people from one end of the tube to the other end before the big, heavy door slams down. Now, we know that the door slams down and opens up every 15 minutes. (The grid transmits data---or basically "works"---in 15-minute intervals.)

If you have three people to run through the door in 15 minutes, this is a relatively easy task. But, each new feature on the smart grid would be represented in this scenario by more and more people---perhaps reaching into the millions. Now, how do we get a million people through the door in 15 minutes? Either we need more time (which isn't an option, really) or we need a bigger door, right?

Right. That's where broadband comes in. It's the bigger door for the smart grid data. And, so far, no sharks. Well, no literal sharks, anyway.

Eric Miller of Trilliant revealed: "Smart grid is not just about metering. There's grid communications, real-time communications, information on energy use and price in the home. When we look at communications needed for that, it drives a different model.... Many of those will require true broadband capacity. The key is bandwidth. It will be critical. Controlling a substation doesn't require much, but an additional video feed to watch the substation requires megabits of additional capacity. As we increase the need of users, bandwidth needs expand exponentially."

Now that we're all sure we need that bandwidth that broadband provides, the question remains whether to use commercial options already available (the same network your cell phone uses) or build our own private network. Miller wants the private option, but Henry Jones with SmartSynch sees more positives with the network already available.

Miller is worried about backhaul issues; Jones is looking at the practical economy of it all. But, nothing has been decided upon just yet. So, the discussion continues.

Jason Griffith with AEP doesn't really take a side on public or private networks. As a utility representative, he is concerned about two items: money and coverage. And whether that's covered by a commercial option or a private one isn't nearly as important as how it answers these three questions: Will it work? Will it be reliable? Will there be costs I have to pass on to my rate payers?

It will certainly be an interesting debate to keep an eye on.

Information from the FCC webcast on smart grid, broadband and climate change can be found on their website:www.fcc.gov