1. SmartGrids
–
The
Cynics'
view
Richard
Shockey
Shockey
Consulting
2427
Silver
Fox
Lane
Reston,
VA
20291
richard@shockey.us
Voice
+1
703
593
2683
Skype/AIM/LinkedIn/Facebook
–
rshockey101

2. What
are
we
talking
about
here?
• The SmartGrid is IMHO the complete redesign of the
communications networks that control and deliver
electric power.
• There has been a substantial disinvestment in both the
IT tools and communications networks that underlie the
grid.
– 2003 collapse of the Grid in the North East a major wake up call
• Caused by communications system failure to anticipate load.
• The goal. Like the Internet .. A resilient network of
networks.

3. Why
?
• Buildings
account
for
70
percent
of
all
U.S.
electricity
consumption
and
40
percent
of
total
U.S.
greenhouse
gas
emissions.

4. SmartGrids
Need
• Needs
for •
Confidentiality
• IP
–
Yes
IP. •
Integrity
• Authentication •
Availability
• Authorization •
Access
Control
&
Intrusion
• Security detection
• Location •
Non_repudiation
•
Role
base
access

5. What’s
the
big
rush?
• Cars
..can
you
remember
high
gas
prices?
• Most
of
the
energy
in
internal
combustion
engines
goes
out
in
heat.
• Millions
of
hybrid
electric
vehicles
all
plug
in
at
7
PM.
The
new
DoS
Attack!

6. The
Locus
of
Attention
Advanced
Metering
Infrastructure
(AMI)
2.65
billion
existing
Meters
Worldwide
•
Only
~
8%
Automated
•Business,
Regulatory
and
Environmental
Drivers
for
Automation
•Multi
modal
interfaces

7. What
is
happening
now
?
• 3.2
Billion
spent
so
far.
• Where
are
the
standards
??
– Sort
of
maybe
..
• C12.22
• IEC
61850
• National
Institute
of
Standards
and
Technology
(NIST)
coordinating
industry
wide
effort.
– http://www.nist.gov/smartgrid/
– http://www.oe.energy.gov/smartgrid.htm

8. What
they
are
not
telling
you.
• Less
than
.2
%
of
all
US
households
have
a
220
V
/
30
Amp
circuit
in
their
garage.
– Plug
my
car
in
where?
• Tell
you
kid
to
be
a
electrician!
• The
utilities
want
end
to
end
control
of
their
network.
Its
their
cash
register.
• Telecos
fighting
uphill
battle
for
the
business
• Spectrum
fights
only
the
beginning
(White
Spaces)
• Integrating
Wind
and
Solar
is
not
as
easy
as
it
sounds
and
its
still
uneconomic.
(subsidies)
• Negative
spot
pricing
• NIMBY
to
high
voltage
towers.

9. What
they
are
not
telling
you.
• Will
rate
payers
tolerate
SmartGrid
CAPEX
in
the
ratebase?
• Will
rate
payers
tolerate
Time
of
Day
pricing?
• Is
there
any
savings
in
Home
Energy
Management?
• The
Prius
effect
has
only
marginal
utility
(15%?)
• What
the
heck
is
home
energy
management?
– 802.11x
networks
vs
802.15.4
• How
do
you
bridge
the
networks?
– Zero
appreciable
progress
on
home
energy
management
standards
consolidation
– At
least
5
competing
proposals
• Highly
entrenched
economic/technical
interests.
• Lack
of
Comparison
Data
appalling.
– How
do
I
know
I’m
wasting
energy
if
I
cant
compare
Apples
to
Apples?

10. What
they
are
not
telling
you.
• Most
of
the
utilities
are
fundamentally
unaware
of
the
IPv6
issue.
– Yes
I’ve
heard
..”Well
we’ll
just
put
our
meters
behind
a
NAT”
• Who
owns
the
meter
data?
– Can
you
spell
Google
or
Microsoft.
– The
largest
potential
application
for
SAML
or
OPEN
ID
ever.

11. Guess
where
we
are?

12. Conclusions
• Market = BIG. Very Big.
– John Chambers has been seen to drool in the hallways.
• The Challenge of Scale = Technically Interesting
• Utilities think differently. “Reliability” is a mantra to them .
– Intuitionally very conservative
– FERC, the regulator has real teeth and power to fine the utilities.
• CAPEX is typically on 20 to 40 year depreciation cycles unlike
the technology industry.
• It’s “ the right thing to do”. ™ but I’m not holding my breath