What’s the Buzz on Smart Grids?

Case study

What’s the buzz on Smart grids?

1. How do smart grids differ from the current electricity infrastructure in the United States?

CONCEPT: Smart grids offer an important information system which can help consumers and business to achieve several strategic business objective such as operational excellence; New products, services, and business models; Customer and supplier intimacy; Improved decision making

Current electricity infrastructure do not provide any information about how consumers actually use energy. That makes it difficult to develop more efficient approaches to distribution. The current system offers few ways to handle power provided by alternative energy sources. Without useful information, energy companies and consumers have difficulty making good decisions about using energy wisely. A smart grid delivers electricity from suppliers to consumers using digital technology to save energy, reduce costs, increase reliability and transparency. The smart grid enables information to flow back and forth between electric power providers and consumers and allows both consumers and energy companies to make more intelligent decisions regarding energy consumption and production, provides information that would help utilities raise prices when demand is high and lower them when demand lessens, helps consumers program high-use electrical appliances like heating and air conditioning systems to reduce consumption during peak hours, could possibly lead to a five to fifteen percent decrease in energy consumption.

2. What management, organization, and technology issues should be considered when developing a smart grid?

Management:

CONCEPT: Feedback: Output returned to appropriate members of organization to help evaluate or correct input stage.

Information feedback would allow consumers to see how much energy they are consuming at any moment and how much it’s costing them. That would allow them to make better decisions about using appliances like...