James Kelly, formerly of Southern California Edison, moderated “Smart Grid: Real or Hype?” at this year’s VerdeXchange conference. Featuring utility and grid specialists, the panel addressed the challenges of implementing the smarter grid.
James Kelly, former Southern California Edison President of Regulatory Affairs, and strategic advisor to GRIDiant, ARES, and other start-ups, moderated “Smart Grid: Real or Hype?” at this year’s VerdeXchange conference. Featuring Mike Montoya, director of Grid Advancement at SCE, the panel addressed the features and challenges of the smarter grid needed to achieve the clean energy goals of twenty-first-century cities.
The smart grid is not yet a well-defined infrastructure. As Kelly notes, hundreds of technologies and innovations now constitute how the smart grid may be developing, but these are far from forming a cohesive whole. Energy transmission via the grid cannot simply be upgraded. Kelly remarks, "I like to say smarter grid because the assertion when you say 'smart grid' is that the existing grid must be dumb. Do you think the existing grid is dumb? I would assert for you... that the existing electric grid is the most complex single machine on earth, in terms of its interaction and scope." Thus, Kelly and Montoya explore how the rhetoric surrounding smart grid advancement may cloud the current status and trajectory of its development.
The transcription is part one of a series tackling the title question.
FULL STORY: VX2013: The Smart Grid - Real or Hype?
Improved Electrical Grids Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Preventing electricity losses makes power generation more efficient. Those efficiencies translate into lower emissions.
Lessons on Resilience and Recovery from 2017's Worst Disasters
Dissecting successful disaster response in places like Houston and Mexico City could help California prepare for the inevitable.
Los Angeles County Looking for Ways to Fund Stormwater Management
Supervisor Sheila Kuehl made the announcement at the recent VerdeXchange Conference.
Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program
Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Canada vs. Kamala: Whose Liberal Housing Platform Comes Out on Top?
As Canada votes for a new Prime Minister, what can America learn from the leading liberal candidate of its neighbor to the north?
Paris Voters Approve More Car-Free Streets
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo says the city will develop a plan to close 500 streets to car traffic and add new bike and pedestrian infrastructure after a referendum on the proposal passed with 66 percent of the vote.
Making Mobility More Inclusive
A new study highlights the challenges people with disabilities continue to face in navigating urban spaces.
Texas Bills Could Push More People Into Homelessness
A proposal to speed up the eviction process and a bill that would accelerate enforcement of an existing camping ban could make the state’s homelessness crisis worse, advocates say.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Ada County Highway District
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service