It's that time of year --- to look back, to look forward ---- to do the hokey pokey and, if you've been bad (like having one too many cookies after dinner), to turn yourself around. It's only a few days after Christmas and my exhaustion has already transferred from a weariness of Christmas specials to a weariness of "2009 in review" shows.
The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) got in on the act today by issuing a release that looks forward at 2010. They discuss a number of exciting options, including the possibility that 2010 will have wind energy being #2 in new generating capacity for the sixth year in a row. For a complete look at the release, click here.
While AWEA is hoping for renewable jobs folded into legislation and more powerful wind turbines, it's more likely that 2010, like 2009, will be the year of the smart grid, with renewables being a happy tangential rather than a real focus. The one potential difference between the smart grid of 2009 and the smart grid of 2010 is probably similar to those Christmas gifts we all received last week: The excitement of the gift's potential wanes with the hassle of piecing it together and making sure it works with our Wi, iPod, iPhone, Mac, Playstation 8,000, etc.
Smart grid 2010 will have the sophomore slump, so to speak. While the freshman enthusiasm may still simmer under the surface, the reality of all those components that need to fit together will, inevitably, put a bit of a dip in the thrill.
As we start to move from unbridled "yes, let's do it" to tempered "oh goodness, what have we gotten ourselves into?" we need to remember that this, too, shall pass. We'll figure out the gadgets and gizmos and issues and, in the end, that enthusiasm will return and this time of concern will be just a blip on the chronological radar. As we approach this time of balance and contemplation, however, it's all the more important to share information, take in a conference or two (like DistribuTECH or POWERGRID Europe) and buckle down for a less-exciting, but more fulfilling year of putting some meat on the smart grid bone structure.
My prediction for the smart grid in 2010 is more walk and less talk. Significant strides will be accomplished.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
The Year of Energy Efficiency
In the holiday classic, "The Year Without a Santa Claus," Santa has a nasty cold and decides to take Christmas off. Today, it seems Florida utility FPL would be more than willing to step into Santa's vacant shoes with their press release on suggested energy efficiency "presents." Even without a Santa Claus, the gifts will abound, it appears.
FPL says to stock up the holidays with energy-star labeled products, solar-powered technology, LED televisions, surge strips and rechargeable batteries, compact fluorescents and low-flow showerheads, and "human-powered" products like shake flashlights and wind-up radios.
I think they are stretching for that last one as far as an energy efficient gift goes, but they're in Florida. Those are practical items in a hurricane. We'll just let it slide.
Even before FPL's holly-jolly-low-flow Christmas tidings, energy efficiency seemed the topic on everyone's lips. Autovation was largely about energy efficiency, from LEDs to energy management systems. Gridweek even covered efficiency more heavily than usual. There were articles on it, blogs on it, conferences around it, conferences adapted to it (just see the line-up for CES 2010 to get an eye for how even consumer conferences are changing to push the idea).
And there is practicality in efficiency. It doesn't require anyone to build more plants, add more power. It's about getting more from what you have on hand. But, as anyone surviving the recession understands, sometimes squeezing more from less creates a certain law of diminishing returns.
I'm interested in the marketing around energy efficiency, really. Granted, products like energy displays, etc., can build on the foundation of saving while promoting a certain amount of spending, but that can only reach so far before we start to figure out that we're forking out a lot of cash to slice tiny nickels and dimes off our energy bills. I often wonder: Where's the tipping point? At what spot in the process will the average consumer say, "Nah. This is just silly."
I know where my tipping point is: Despite the encouragement of FPL, anyone who buys me a low-flow showerhead for Christmas will get a lump of coal in return. A girl with lots o' hair cannot possibly get shampoo out of it with the trickle-and-spit low-flow method. So, Santa ... or FPL ... please, nothing low-flow for me. If that makes me bad, so be it. Put me on the energy efficiency naughty list. I can take it.
FPL says to stock up the holidays with energy-star labeled products, solar-powered technology, LED televisions, surge strips and rechargeable batteries, compact fluorescents and low-flow showerheads, and "human-powered" products like shake flashlights and wind-up radios.
I think they are stretching for that last one as far as an energy efficient gift goes, but they're in Florida. Those are practical items in a hurricane. We'll just let it slide.
Even before FPL's holly-jolly-low-flow Christmas tidings, energy efficiency seemed the topic on everyone's lips. Autovation was largely about energy efficiency, from LEDs to energy management systems. Gridweek even covered efficiency more heavily than usual. There were articles on it, blogs on it, conferences around it, conferences adapted to it (just see the line-up for CES 2010 to get an eye for how even consumer conferences are changing to push the idea).
And there is practicality in efficiency. It doesn't require anyone to build more plants, add more power. It's about getting more from what you have on hand. But, as anyone surviving the recession understands, sometimes squeezing more from less creates a certain law of diminishing returns.
I'm interested in the marketing around energy efficiency, really. Granted, products like energy displays, etc., can build on the foundation of saving while promoting a certain amount of spending, but that can only reach so far before we start to figure out that we're forking out a lot of cash to slice tiny nickels and dimes off our energy bills. I often wonder: Where's the tipping point? At what spot in the process will the average consumer say, "Nah. This is just silly."
I know where my tipping point is: Despite the encouragement of FPL, anyone who buys me a low-flow showerhead for Christmas will get a lump of coal in return. A girl with lots o' hair cannot possibly get shampoo out of it with the trickle-and-spit low-flow method. So, Santa ... or FPL ... please, nothing low-flow for me. If that makes me bad, so be it. Put me on the energy efficiency naughty list. I can take it.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
NRC to PHEVs: You're Too Expensive
Yesterday, the National Research Council (NRC) released a report on the costs of plug-in hybrids that seems to confirm basic logic: Consumers won't see a return on their initial investment for decades. It could be 2030 before it's actually a good buy to plunk down cash for a hybrid.
According to the NRC report, "costs to manufacture plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in 2010 are estimated to be as much as $18,000 more than for an equivalent conventional vehicle." Since my last car cost less than $18,000 altogether, that seems like a big ol' mountain for the hybrid industry to climb before the average consumer like me thinks: Oh boy, I get to save money AND save the environment. I'll definitely buy one.
This reminds me of the time I looked into putting solar cells on my house. When I figured in the cost of the panels, the conversion of the electric wiring, the specialty meter, etc., the figure topped out at over $20,000. Since my average power bill in the summer is $60 and in the winter is $30, it would be nearly 30 years until those solar cells started paying for themselves. And they only had a shelf life of a decade. After that, I would be tush-over-teakettle, building up debt to replace panels every 10 years---like those people who trade in cars every six months and then wonder why they can no longer afford to eat. It just wasn't a feasible, practical option.
Now, some of the same adjustments to home electric wiring required for me to prop up those solar panels would also be required for PHEVs, adding as much as a grand on top of the 18K for the vehicle.
Apparently, it takes a lot of money to save the world. And, while I wish to save the world, don't get me wrong, I'm more concerned about not ending up tush-over-teakettle. I don't like debt. I certainly don't want to be swimming in it, personally, in order to transfer part of my carbon footprint from my little Kia Sportage to my local electric company.
I remember an old friend who was all gung-ho for PHEVs. He was ready to pay heavy for saving the world. He was pumped and prepped to trade in his Ford and get on the green bandwagon, though he still lived in a huge, three-car-garage/five-bedroom house 65+ miles from his workplace. As he talked to me about the positives of PHEVs, all I could think about were the costs he would be ringing up when he could buy a smaller house closer to his work and make a much larger contribution to bettering the environment. But, buying the car was actually easier, for him anyway.
For most of us, though, buying a PHEV is difficult. I love the environment, and I hope we can all do our part to make it greener. But, I prefer the more practical---and infinitely easier for me---concepts of smaller footprints through smaller living, cold-water washing, using less paper products, living 3 miles from work (although I do still drive, I admit that).
While PHEVs may offer hope that we can slice our larger, national population's carbon footprint, it seems the first hurdle is still the most prominent: making it affordable for the individual average consumer who cannot see an extra 20K fly out of their pocketbook for the environment. I would love to see this technology become affordable and accessible. But, until it does, I don't see very many of us clamoring to go green through our garages.
For more information on PHEVs, click through to our PHEV topic page here.
According to the NRC report, "costs to manufacture plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in 2010 are estimated to be as much as $18,000 more than for an equivalent conventional vehicle." Since my last car cost less than $18,000 altogether, that seems like a big ol' mountain for the hybrid industry to climb before the average consumer like me thinks: Oh boy, I get to save money AND save the environment. I'll definitely buy one.
This reminds me of the time I looked into putting solar cells on my house. When I figured in the cost of the panels, the conversion of the electric wiring, the specialty meter, etc., the figure topped out at over $20,000. Since my average power bill in the summer is $60 and in the winter is $30, it would be nearly 30 years until those solar cells started paying for themselves. And they only had a shelf life of a decade. After that, I would be tush-over-teakettle, building up debt to replace panels every 10 years---like those people who trade in cars every six months and then wonder why they can no longer afford to eat. It just wasn't a feasible, practical option.
Now, some of the same adjustments to home electric wiring required for me to prop up those solar panels would also be required for PHEVs, adding as much as a grand on top of the 18K for the vehicle.
Apparently, it takes a lot of money to save the world. And, while I wish to save the world, don't get me wrong, I'm more concerned about not ending up tush-over-teakettle. I don't like debt. I certainly don't want to be swimming in it, personally, in order to transfer part of my carbon footprint from my little Kia Sportage to my local electric company.
I remember an old friend who was all gung-ho for PHEVs. He was ready to pay heavy for saving the world. He was pumped and prepped to trade in his Ford and get on the green bandwagon, though he still lived in a huge, three-car-garage/five-bedroom house 65+ miles from his workplace. As he talked to me about the positives of PHEVs, all I could think about were the costs he would be ringing up when he could buy a smaller house closer to his work and make a much larger contribution to bettering the environment. But, buying the car was actually easier, for him anyway.
For most of us, though, buying a PHEV is difficult. I love the environment, and I hope we can all do our part to make it greener. But, I prefer the more practical---and infinitely easier for me---concepts of smaller footprints through smaller living, cold-water washing, using less paper products, living 3 miles from work (although I do still drive, I admit that).
While PHEVs may offer hope that we can slice our larger, national population's carbon footprint, it seems the first hurdle is still the most prominent: making it affordable for the individual average consumer who cannot see an extra 20K fly out of their pocketbook for the environment. I would love to see this technology become affordable and accessible. But, until it does, I don't see very many of us clamoring to go green through our garages.
For more information on PHEVs, click through to our PHEV topic page here.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Boeing Loves Smart Grid
It's been industry gossip for months: Just what is Boeing doing? How will the company be involved in the smart grid? What are they up to, exactly? We've heard about their involvement, read blogs about it and been utterly enthralled with the very idea of it---a new suitor for an old maid.
Why is it all so enthralling? Because it's just not done. Because no one knocks on the door of power distribution from outside the industry. Maybe it's the high tech factor; maybe it's the old fogey factor. It could be a mixture of both. We may smell like a combo of copper wiring and Bengay.
There's a lot of buzz about smart grid inside the industry of course. Generation players suddenly want to be grid players. The transmission end of things wants to push past distribution and into a consumer's home. Yet, even with all the interior movement, it is still rare for a company outside the power industry to say, "Now, the grid. That's the next big thang. That's where stuff is moving and shaking. I've got to be a part of that."
Yet, that seems to be just what's happening with major aerospace and defense mega-giant Boeing.
In late November, Boeing was selected to receive federal stimulus funds with some work on smart grid platforms here in the U.S., a move that served double-duty as a public announcement that the company is looking seriously at the grid side of power. Boeing received an $8.5 million grant to lead one project team and is involved with two other projects (with Consolidated Edison and Southern California Edison).
Last Friday evening, POWERGRID International magazine spoke with Tim Noonan, vice president of Boeing Advanced Global Services and Support about the company's history, its view on grid security and Boeing's vision of that smart grid horizon. You can read that interview in full in our upcoming January issue news section. Until that magazine hits the stands though, here's the Twitter, 140-character-or-less summary: Boeing loves the smart grid like tourists once loved New York. They're investing. Heavily. (90 characters, spaces included.)
Stay tuned.
Why is it all so enthralling? Because it's just not done. Because no one knocks on the door of power distribution from outside the industry. Maybe it's the high tech factor; maybe it's the old fogey factor. It could be a mixture of both. We may smell like a combo of copper wiring and Bengay.
There's a lot of buzz about smart grid inside the industry of course. Generation players suddenly want to be grid players. The transmission end of things wants to push past distribution and into a consumer's home. Yet, even with all the interior movement, it is still rare for a company outside the power industry to say, "Now, the grid. That's the next big thang. That's where stuff is moving and shaking. I've got to be a part of that."
Yet, that seems to be just what's happening with major aerospace and defense mega-giant Boeing.
In late November, Boeing was selected to receive federal stimulus funds with some work on smart grid platforms here in the U.S., a move that served double-duty as a public announcement that the company is looking seriously at the grid side of power. Boeing received an $8.5 million grant to lead one project team and is involved with two other projects (with Consolidated Edison and Southern California Edison).
Last Friday evening, POWERGRID International magazine spoke with Tim Noonan, vice president of Boeing Advanced Global Services and Support about the company's history, its view on grid security and Boeing's vision of that smart grid horizon. You can read that interview in full in our upcoming January issue news section. Until that magazine hits the stands though, here's the Twitter, 140-character-or-less summary: Boeing loves the smart grid like tourists once loved New York. They're investing. Heavily. (90 characters, spaces included.)
Stay tuned.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Belated Thanksgiving Thoughts
My favorite Thanksgiving tradition is the process of actually giving thanks---saying out loud (or putting into writing) all those positive, affirming ideas that, most of the time, we mentally dismiss as too cheesy to actually vocalize. Thanksgiving is the one day each year where cheesy is forgiven, in my book. On this one single November holiday, you're allowed to be your own personal Pollyanna. You can thank your parents for having you, your brother for not killing you that time you stole his most prized G.I. Joe, your boss for not holding it against you that you're not the most photogenic person to do video interviews, your friends for willingly braving zombie movies with you.
I already gave those personal thanks last week, but I just realized today that there are thanks to be given within our industry as well. So, here and now, I propose the ten smart grid items to be thankful for this year.
10. Improved technology. We really haven't done much in a couple of generations with our industry gadgets. The one thing the smart grid has kick-started is tech features---from more efficient switchgear to VAR compensators to in-home displays.
9. More research. All this smart grid chatter has loosened coffers for research and development where once you opened the R&D wallet and moths flew out, dust kicked up, and there was no money to be had.
8. More chatter. Speaking of chatter, there is a lot of it. Even my mother knows about the smart grid, perhaps not to an industry level. But, I'm amazed she knows anything at all. It can't all be from me. It must come from an outside source.
7. Media blitzing. A favorite outside source of all mothers is the media. In this case, I'm referring to tech and insider magazines. Traditionally, the heavy words of the power industry were often reserved for the generation side. These days, however, the grid is the word. Even our generation sister magazines in-house are talking smart grid.
6. Mainstream media blitzing. OK. My mother didn't get her info from an industry magazine or from me. She probably got it from Charles Gibson. She loves her some Charlie. But, isn't it amazing that Charlie is talking about the smart grid?
5. President Obama. Let's face it: Obama's focus on renewables and efficiency has certainly helped the smart grid cause. And the cash didn't hurt, either.
4. More money. Not just from Obama, but also from investors who now see a future in an industry once thought of as about as progressive as aglets (the plastic ends of shoelaces that haven't changed form in more years than my grandmother's been alive).
3. Less money. We have to take a moment, though, to realize that this influx of cash is, at least partially, due to many, many years of no cash. There would be no current boom without the previous bust.
2. The art of selling. We took an industry with a lot of different acronyms and names and words and hard to follow concepts, and we've finally done the brilliant act of marketing: We've dumbed it down. And, yes, that's a good thing. After all, you can't understand Calculus without a concept of simple addition. For years, we've tried to sell the consumer Calculus. And, they've been thoroughly puzzled. And we've been puzzled about why they were so uninterested. Simplicity is key. We should have listened to Thoreau years ago. (He kept telling us to simplify.)
1. The perfect name. In the end, perhaps we should give all of this credit to the ultimate simplification: an easy-to-understand, easy-to-market name. Names have made a lot of people and a lot of products appear so much better. (John Wayne was born Marion Mitchell Morrison, and thank goodness he changed that, for example.) That simple name, "the smart grid," may, in the end, be responsible for rescuing this industry from obscurity, just as Wayne's name change may well have cemented his place as a film icon. After all, how many male movie stars called Marion can you name?
I already gave those personal thanks last week, but I just realized today that there are thanks to be given within our industry as well. So, here and now, I propose the ten smart grid items to be thankful for this year.
10. Improved technology. We really haven't done much in a couple of generations with our industry gadgets. The one thing the smart grid has kick-started is tech features---from more efficient switchgear to VAR compensators to in-home displays.
9. More research. All this smart grid chatter has loosened coffers for research and development where once you opened the R&D wallet and moths flew out, dust kicked up, and there was no money to be had.
8. More chatter. Speaking of chatter, there is a lot of it. Even my mother knows about the smart grid, perhaps not to an industry level. But, I'm amazed she knows anything at all. It can't all be from me. It must come from an outside source.
7. Media blitzing. A favorite outside source of all mothers is the media. In this case, I'm referring to tech and insider magazines. Traditionally, the heavy words of the power industry were often reserved for the generation side. These days, however, the grid is the word. Even our generation sister magazines in-house are talking smart grid.
6. Mainstream media blitzing. OK. My mother didn't get her info from an industry magazine or from me. She probably got it from Charles Gibson. She loves her some Charlie. But, isn't it amazing that Charlie is talking about the smart grid?
5. President Obama. Let's face it: Obama's focus on renewables and efficiency has certainly helped the smart grid cause. And the cash didn't hurt, either.
4. More money. Not just from Obama, but also from investors who now see a future in an industry once thought of as about as progressive as aglets (the plastic ends of shoelaces that haven't changed form in more years than my grandmother's been alive).
3. Less money. We have to take a moment, though, to realize that this influx of cash is, at least partially, due to many, many years of no cash. There would be no current boom without the previous bust.
2. The art of selling. We took an industry with a lot of different acronyms and names and words and hard to follow concepts, and we've finally done the brilliant act of marketing: We've dumbed it down. And, yes, that's a good thing. After all, you can't understand Calculus without a concept of simple addition. For years, we've tried to sell the consumer Calculus. And, they've been thoroughly puzzled. And we've been puzzled about why they were so uninterested. Simplicity is key. We should have listened to Thoreau years ago. (He kept telling us to simplify.)
1. The perfect name. In the end, perhaps we should give all of this credit to the ultimate simplification: an easy-to-understand, easy-to-market name. Names have made a lot of people and a lot of products appear so much better. (John Wayne was born Marion Mitchell Morrison, and thank goodness he changed that, for example.) That simple name, "the smart grid," may, in the end, be responsible for rescuing this industry from obscurity, just as Wayne's name change may well have cemented his place as a film icon. After all, how many male movie stars called Marion can you name?
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Consumer-driven Smart Grid
I just returned from Amsterdam, and, during the trip, I got a tour of the city's Climate Street project. In a small shopping area in central Amsterdam, the community is coming together to change their carbon footprint, and a lot of the technology in play we would attribute to the smart grid: smart meters, energy management displays, etc. They've added in some solar tram stops and solar trash cans (and an interesting reverse osmosis water feature that can be used to wash those tram stops and trash cans). But, in the end, the heart of Climate Street is good distribution.
But, what fascinated me the most about Climate Street wasn't the technology or even the massive coordination effort by the city (and the local grid operator Alliander). What fascinated me the most was the impetus, the jumping off point for this project. Climate Street started with the shopkeepers. They came together and pushed for this concept, and they got it. Climate Street was a grassroots idea.
Honestly, I really can't imagine shopkeepers in the U.S. banding together to willingly pay for changing their power structure and intake. I can see U.S. shopkeepers asking about financial benefits for programs already put in place by the utility that they didn't have to much think about or fuss with, but I just can't imagine my local Reasor's and Wal-green's putting their heads together to try and do their part to green central Tulsa.
But, perhaps I'm jaded. Perhaps I'm underestimating the American commitment.
But, back to Holland. While we were getting a Climate Street overview outside in the biting Dutch wind, a shopkeeper wheeling in wine for his dinner rush invited us into his coffee shop to view some of the features he had in place for the project, including a plug and software that reads and helps diagnose energy use. He told us that, in fact, the program has convinced him to turn off the registers and the coffee machine at night, since they were pulling so much power.
He seemed very proud of this program and very happy with its progress, even though his shop and the street were marred by serious construction issues associated with removing and replacing the connections and cables.
It made me wonder how much my local Reasor's and Wal-green's really could save if they were willing to put their heads together with Oklahoma Gas and Electric and copy the Climate Street plan.
With a two-fold plan to save money and save the world, it seems like a win-win situation, doesn't it---well worth a little thought and a bit of construction dust? If they can do it, why not us?
But, what fascinated me the most about Climate Street wasn't the technology or even the massive coordination effort by the city (and the local grid operator Alliander). What fascinated me the most was the impetus, the jumping off point for this project. Climate Street started with the shopkeepers. They came together and pushed for this concept, and they got it. Climate Street was a grassroots idea.
Honestly, I really can't imagine shopkeepers in the U.S. banding together to willingly pay for changing their power structure and intake. I can see U.S. shopkeepers asking about financial benefits for programs already put in place by the utility that they didn't have to much think about or fuss with, but I just can't imagine my local Reasor's and Wal-green's putting their heads together to try and do their part to green central Tulsa.
But, perhaps I'm jaded. Perhaps I'm underestimating the American commitment.
But, back to Holland. While we were getting a Climate Street overview outside in the biting Dutch wind, a shopkeeper wheeling in wine for his dinner rush invited us into his coffee shop to view some of the features he had in place for the project, including a plug and software that reads and helps diagnose energy use. He told us that, in fact, the program has convinced him to turn off the registers and the coffee machine at night, since they were pulling so much power.
He seemed very proud of this program and very happy with its progress, even though his shop and the street were marred by serious construction issues associated with removing and replacing the connections and cables.
It made me wonder how much my local Reasor's and Wal-green's really could save if they were willing to put their heads together with Oklahoma Gas and Electric and copy the Climate Street plan.
With a two-fold plan to save money and save the world, it seems like a win-win situation, doesn't it---well worth a little thought and a bit of construction dust? If they can do it, why not us?
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
European Conference Abstracts Reveal a Small World
This week I'm preparing to travel to Amsterdam for the conference committee meeting for POWERGRID Europe. This preparation process requires all the traditional travel elements---the buying of mini shampoo bottles, the reading of baggie boxes to see if they're quart-sized, the finding of the passport because you just can't remember what "safe" place you hid it in last time---but the preparation for this particular trip also requires a large non-traditional element: Namely, I have to read through a million paper abstracts.
Okay, not a million. That's an exaggeration. Still, a lot.
For those of you not familiar with the industry's conference process, here's the short, summed-up version: Utilities and vendors, engineers and students submit short summaries of the papers they'd like to present and a committee of experts then wades through all those submissions and someone says "Hey, this guy's paper fits with this guy's paper" and, through this process, we build ourselves a conference.
So, this week, I'm reading through paper abstracts for POWERGRID Europe so that next week, in Amsterdam, I'll know what we're talking about when Richard from Areva T&D or Heiko from Siemens or Marco from UTInnovation pipes up with "Hey, this guy's paper fits with this guy's paper."
What I've found through this reading process is that we're all dealing with the same stuff. Or, as the Disney ride puts it: It's a small world after all.
The largest popular topics: the smart grid and renewables. The largest popular headaches: How do we get the smart grid to work just right and how do we plug in those pesky renewables, exactly?
It reminds me of the time I ran into an old friend (who works in the industry) out of the blue in a line at Heathrow airport. I'd come in from Tulsa and was heading to Milan. He'd come in from Canada and was headed to Moscow. What were the odds we'd meet each other at Heathrow?
But, we do work in the same industry, and, while we weren't headed to the same conference, we were both headed to conferences. And, with those two similarities, patterns start to establish. This pattern led us to bump into each other at an airport hub.
Patterns establish themselves in our industry, too---whether the technology is popping up in New Hampshire, the Netherlands or New Delhi. The question remains, though: What do these patterns really tell us?
Right now, I don't know. Perhaps I will have more answers when I come back from Amsterdam and know which guy's paper fits perfectly with which other guy's paper. Perhaps then the patterns will reveal a clear message, and I'll be able to tell the industry's fortune and its future.
Okay, not a million. That's an exaggeration. Still, a lot.
For those of you not familiar with the industry's conference process, here's the short, summed-up version: Utilities and vendors, engineers and students submit short summaries of the papers they'd like to present and a committee of experts then wades through all those submissions and someone says "Hey, this guy's paper fits with this guy's paper" and, through this process, we build ourselves a conference.
So, this week, I'm reading through paper abstracts for POWERGRID Europe so that next week, in Amsterdam, I'll know what we're talking about when Richard from Areva T&D or Heiko from Siemens or Marco from UTInnovation pipes up with "Hey, this guy's paper fits with this guy's paper."
What I've found through this reading process is that we're all dealing with the same stuff. Or, as the Disney ride puts it: It's a small world after all.
The largest popular topics: the smart grid and renewables. The largest popular headaches: How do we get the smart grid to work just right and how do we plug in those pesky renewables, exactly?
It reminds me of the time I ran into an old friend (who works in the industry) out of the blue in a line at Heathrow airport. I'd come in from Tulsa and was heading to Milan. He'd come in from Canada and was headed to Moscow. What were the odds we'd meet each other at Heathrow?
But, we do work in the same industry, and, while we weren't headed to the same conference, we were both headed to conferences. And, with those two similarities, patterns start to establish. This pattern led us to bump into each other at an airport hub.
Patterns establish themselves in our industry, too---whether the technology is popping up in New Hampshire, the Netherlands or New Delhi. The question remains, though: What do these patterns really tell us?
Right now, I don't know. Perhaps I will have more answers when I come back from Amsterdam and know which guy's paper fits perfectly with which other guy's paper. Perhaps then the patterns will reveal a clear message, and I'll be able to tell the industry's fortune and its future.
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