Page 39 - PCCA Journal 2nd Quarter 2012

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PCCA Journal|2
nd
Quarter 2012
39
spondents, as 45 percent stated that they
were unfamiliar with the program, the
lowest level of familiarity of any of the
13 energy and environment concepts.
Smart Grid Market
Focus to Shift from
Deployment to
Applications in 2012
T
he smart grid promises a
dramatic transformation of the
world’s electricity infrastruc-
ture, with a long list of goals essential
to maximizing efficiency and diversify-
ing our future energy supplies. While it
is occurring more gradually than some
would like, smart grid deployment has
been taking place at a relatively rapid
pace for the electric utility industry. Ex-
isting players are transforming, new (and
old) players are entering (and leaving)
the market, and consumers are awaken-
ing to a new set of possibilities. Some
200 million smart meters have been
deployed worldwide, 40 million of them
in North America.
According to a new white paper from
Pike Research, the year 2012 represents
a turning point for the sector, where the
smart grid must prove its value, both in
operational and financial terms, to the
full range of stakeholders. In the next
phase of smart grid development and
deployment, the question is: What will
we do with the massive infrastructure
that has been deployed and all the data
it will generate?
In particular, Pike anticipates that 2012
will be the year in which the focus of the
expanding smart grid sector shifts from
infrastructure deployment to applications.
The white paper, which includes ten
predictions about the smart grid market
in 2012 and beyond, is available for free
download at www.pikeresearch.com.
“Utilities need to prove to both
end-use customers and regulators that
the adoption of smart grid technolo-
gies, such as smart meters, has been
worthwhile in either reducing costs
or boosting energy efficiency,” Pike
Research Vice President Bob Gohn said.
“Relatively simple applications such
as prepaid metering services should be
straightforward, while others, like the
integration of distribution automation
with advanced metering infrastructure
and the adoption of microgrids, are more
ambitious. Major challenges remain, as
continuing consumer pushback against
smart meters is likely to extend to
dynamic pricing program rollouts and
home area networking, threatening some
of the key principles of smart grid invest-
ments.”
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GM6187AD4C_Layout 1 3/21/12 7:56 AM Page 1
News Briefs continued on page 40