Georgia must be ready for smart grid

By Paul A. Camuti

Georgia’s General Assembly just concluded what many consider one of its most productive sessions in years, having addressed two of the biggest —and most basic — infrastructure challenges facing metro Atlanta: transportation and water.

While the legislation still awaits Gov. Sonny Perdue’s decision, as of this writing, the fact remains: Infrastructure needs directly impacting quality of life for Atlanta and greater Georgia residents are being earnestly addressed.

Potentially having legislation in place that can address the need for adequate water supply and reduced traffic congestion is good news.

But it is imperative business leaders and policymakers also consider other future infrastructure needs.

The green economy is rapidly taking shape here and throughout the country. Our electric infrastructure is badly in need of adaptable solutions to meet new demand.

Technologies like renewable wind power, electric cars, smart appliances and distributed generation and energy storage are fundamentally changing the power grid. Enter smart grid.

Much of the nation’s electric grid was built around the time Teddy Roosevelt was president — at the turn of the 20th century — when one-lane country roads sufficed for traffic.

The grid we eventually will need in our more modern, interconnected society is akin to multi-lane superhighways with real-time, cutting-edge systems to keep power flowing.

And although several billions of dollars were allocated in President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package, elevating the issue as a national and state priority, we’re still far off from achieving this vision.

Transportation — public and private — is a key area where developing smart grids can help mitigate the downside of otherwise economically and environmentally efficient solutions.

For example, trains and light rail help reduce traffic congestion, but also put additional demands on the electric grid. Electric cars will help reduce carbon emissions, but there is a need for extensive development of charging stations, a problem Georgia utility Southern Company is already tackling.

We must change how we think of “infrastructure” and start building up our smart grid in order to address long-term growth needs.

Average citizens can create new power generation energy markets when they move from being consumers to “prosumers.”

Generating one’s own electricity via solar or wind and selling it back to a utility provider will be facilitated by the smart grid, which makes renewable power more reliable.

On the consumption side, manufacturers and individual consumers alike can use smart grid technologies to cut costs by managing their electricity consumption in real time to use power when rates are lowest.

And finally, as several environmental and policy leaders have noted, the smart grid is self-healing and will improve our overall security by decreasing the risk for malfunctions and attacks.

Government and business should start planning for how this region can become a national leader in America’s green economy now and in the decades ahead.

Infrastructure issues affect our daily lives, and the smart grid will be an important piece of the equation to make the state of Georgia a leader.

The future often arrives sooner than we think, so we must start the conversation today.

Paul A. Camuti is president and CEO of Siemens Corporate Research, a division of Siemens Corp., which is hosting a smart grid exhibition in Atlanta May 26.