We’ve sure heard a lot of talk about the SmartGrid, in fact, it is part of our Nation’s Economic Stimulus Plan. Still, few of us really know what all that means. Most of us realize that we need to invest in our power transmission lines, and that energy is one of the keys to our civilization. Not long ago, someone asked me about SmartMeters and if they were a part of our SmartGrid Strategy. Indeed, this is a smart question, and one, I’d like to explore with you if you have a moment.

First, if you search all this online, you will quickly find that there is a bunch of somewhat conflicting information out there on the topic, and a friend of mine said she felt as if she was in “duck soup” the other day attempting to sort it all out. What is the SmartGrid, and what are SmartMeters, you ask? Is it really that complicated? No, not really, but you must understand that the SmartGrid is a concept, just like Internet 3.0 is a concept – and that concept is not the same for everyone, as it hasn’t been properly defined.

Well, then do we really need a SmartGrid, and Smarty-pants Meters? Yes, we do actually, and I feel your pain if you are attempting to figure it all out, in fact, one comment I have is that our President talks about “SmartGrid” and to many people that means different things. Some say it means Tesla type energy delivery wireless. Some think it is all about distributive energy and setting us up for the future Hydrogen economy and each person or area having its own energy + plus the grid energy as needed, selling and balancing it.

There is a lot of confusion, I totally agree.

The GE SmartGrid SmartMeters are only the first step. You see, you cannot have distributive energy until the meters can work two-way, as a SmartGrid assumes that you can make energy on-site, such as solar on your roof top and then sell the excess you don’t need to the electrical company or grid, or use that to reduce your energy bill, when the sun goes down and you use energy the other way from the centralized power-plant from the energy company.

And with regards to SmartMeters – you cannot really get people to save their energy until they “know how much they are really using” and see it in real time. Like the cars now which tell you your MPG in real time. Just allowing them to see it, will change behavior, and it could cut our energy consumption by 10-15%, just that alone. Of course, the GE smartgrid meters are not “free” and so they need to be installed and people need to upgrade, or the government needs to pay.

Then along comes the applications such as the new “Bloom Box” or hydrogen generators which work on-site, or can be used at businesses. And really, until we have the GE Smartgrid meters, there is no real market for all these personal home power generators, as people cannot sell their excess back to the grid to reduce their overall consumption, using solar, wind, fuel cell, etc, etc.

But, once we have this two-way capacity and the meters in place to measure it all – then the co-generation for small business can become a whole new industry, like large and medium sized businesses are now about to do, by investing in energy generation and selling their excess back to the grid.

As a writer, I understand we need more articles like this for proper explanation in layman’s terms to help folks understand. And I would suggest articles with titles such as:

• What is a smartgrid meter and why should you care?
• What is distributed energy?
• How can I know which appliances are causing my energy bills to skyrocket?
• When is the best time to use energy?
• When are they going to put in smartgrid meters in my city?
• Why can’t I sell energy back to the grid like my neighbor who has solar?
• Where can I learn more about getting a smartgrid meter for my home?

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