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A Smart Approach To Saving Energy

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A home wired to a smart grid could be using power from a neighbor's solar panels instead of a conventional coal-fired power plant. What's more, the home could be programmed to run the water heater and other appliances when electricity is least expensive.

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By RUSSELL RAY

rray@tampatrib.com

Published: March 22, 2009

Imagine being able to track your electric bill during the month with the touch of a button, adjusting your usage if the bill is getting too high. You would have more control over your energy costs, and the surprise of your monthly electric bill would be gone.

That's one of several energy-saving technologies that will be placed in up to 5,000 homes and businesses in west St. Petersburg and St. Pete Beach in a grand experiment with what has been dubbed "smart grid" technology.

Using two-way communications and other new technologies, a smart grid can harness excess power generated by rooftop solar panels, detect and avoid potential power outages, and cycle off power to home appliances during peak demand.

A home wired to a smart grid could be using power from a neighbor's solar panels instead of a conventional coal-fired power plant. What's more, the home could be programmed to run the water heater and other appliances when electricity is least expensive.

Over the next three years, Progress Energy and the University of South Florida will equip homes and businesses with special meters, sensors and switches to create one of the largest smart grids in the nation. A smart grid uses a collection of high-tech gadgets, helping utilities and consumers manage their energy use more efficiently, improve reliability, reduce costs and promote the use of renewable energy.

"This will benefit consumers greatly because it enables a whole bunch of strategies to come into play to lower the cost of electricity," said Alex Domijan, director of USF's Power Center for Utility Explorations.

Though consumers may already use elements of a smart grid, such as programmable thermostats or planned outages, a true smart grid is a "synthesis of new technologies that make the system flexible," Domijan said.

'Virtual Power Plant'

Smart-grid technology is a new industry and a major element of President Barack Obama's plan to create jobs and rebuild the nation's economy. At least $4.5 billion has been dedicated to smart-grid projects in the federal stimulus package, and billions more could be steered to smart-grid initiatives.

The $15 million project between USF and Progress Energy includes a $1.4 million grant from the Florida Energy and Climate Commission, charged with developing a strategic energy plan for the state. Progress Energy, Publix Super Markets and HD Supply, a distributor of smart-grid technologies, are financing the rest of the project.

The project will include the use of biodiesel generators at one Publix supermarket. In addition to generating renewable power, that store could remain open if power were knocked out by a hurricane.

The project also will enable homeowners to track their energy costs in real time, using smart meters that allow the utility to monitor a home's energy usage.

"They won't have to wait for that monthly bill," said Kent Hedrick, manager of Progress Energy's smart-grid initiative. "They will be able to see any time they want just how much electricity they have used and how much it will cost them at that point and time."

Eventually, the utility could begin offering its customers a series of rates that fluctuate during the day, giving them the option of using power when it is least expensive.

"At night, we may be able to offer a lower rate than what we would in the afternoon when we have higher demand," Hedrick said.

The same collection of technologies will enable the utility to distribute power more evenly across the grid, pinpoint overloaded power lines and avoid power outages.

"It will be able to see load picking up," Hedrick said. "With that intelligence and two-way communications, we will be able to take quick action to balance that load and maintain that grid in its most optimal configuration every hour of every day."

If a storm does knock out power, a smart grid can tell the utility almost immediately where the outage is.

"We would be able to restore power quicker," Hedrick said.

Right now, the grid carries electricity in one direction, from the power plant to your home or business.

A smart grid is capable of reversing the flow of power, enabling every home and business that generates electricity to take the power they are not using and place it on the grid for someone else to use. Or they can store the power in batteries for future use.

"If they're not using energy, they're potentially a virtual power plant," Domijan said.

Expanding The Grid

Smart-grid projects have been confined to small areas with a few thousand customers. But Progress Energy is confident the technology can be duplicated on a large scale to serve millions.

The project marks the beginning of a larger expansion by Progress Energy. Hedrick said the utility plans to incorporate smart-grid technology in its most populated service areas, including Orlando and Pinellas County, in the next 10 years.

"It will provide opportunities to the customer that they would not be able to do today," he said. "It also provides us another tool to optimize the grid."

A national upgrade, however, would take many years and cost billions of dollars.

Domijan said the cost would be offset by the long-term savings created by smart-grid efficiency.

Power outages, he said, cost businesses billions of dollars each year, and smart-grid technologies would eliminate most, if not all, of those disruptions.

"It's not just pie-in-the-sky thinking," he said. "These are things we can do in a relatively short time to benefit a wide range of people on many economic levels."

Reporter Russell Ray can be reached at (813) 259-7870.

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