A smart grid is a transactive grid.
- Lynne Kiesling
Archive for April, 2009

Is 2009 Really The Year Of The Smart Meter?

Via Earth2Tech, some news to help balance a bit of the hype around smart meters.  As the report notes: “…So where’s all the smart-grid money that’s supposed to pour into fancy new smart meters? According to Itron, a leader in the smart-meter sector, it’s stuck in the pockets of slow moving utilities. Liberty Lake, Wash.,-based […]

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Your Utility Wants To Talk To You…

Again courtesy of The New York Times, an interesting article on smart grids, the likely demise of flat rate pricing, and other emerging trends.  As the report notes: “…Experts have talked about a smart electric system for two decades, with many false starts, but cheaper communications and computing — and federal stimulus money — could […]

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Smart(er) Infrastructure

Via The New York Times, a report on smart infrastructure.  As the article notes: “IN the mid-1990s, the Internet took off because its technological time had come. Years of steady progress in developing more powerful and less expensive computers, Web software and faster communications links finally came together. A similar pattern is emerging today, experts […]

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Smart (Grid) Investing and Utility “Sampling”

Via Earth2Tech, an interesting article on how venture capitalists are evaluating early stage smart grid startups.  As the article notes: “…The massive market opportunity of the smart grid, invigorated by stimulus funds and new energy efficiency rules, is clear — but how are venture capitalists deciding which early stage smart grid startups to back? Well, […]

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Demand Response: In Demand

Courtesy of Earth2Tech, a report that – despite a plethora of smart meter and home energy management companies getting the bulk of media attention when it comes to the rollout of the smart grid – demand-response firms are still going strong.  As the article notes: “…One of the largest demand-response providers in the country, CPower, […]

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Measuring Smart Meter Benefits: Utility vs. Consumer

Via Earth2Tech, some further thoughts on smart meters and – per this view – a perspective that most of the benefits of such instrumentation accrue at the utility vs. consumer level.  As the article notes: “Utilities and meter makers are quick to point out how smart meters can reduce consumers’ energy bills, but the motivation […]

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About This Blog And Its Authors
Grid Unlocked is powered by two eco-preneurs who analyze and reference articles, reports, and interviews that can help unlock the nascent, complex and expanding linkages between smart meters, smart grids, and above all: smart markets.

Based on decades of experience and interest in conservation, Monty Simus believes that a truly “smart” grid must be a “transactive” grid, unshackled from its current status as a so-called “natural monopoly.”

In short, an unlocked grid must adopt and harness the power of markets to incentivize individual users, linked to each other on a large scale, who change consumptive behavior in creative ways that drive efficiency and bring equity to use of the planet's finite and increasingly scarce resources.