Nick Sinai, the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) director of the newly created energy and environment division, outlined how his organization will work with and manage the smart grid industry.  Sinai made his remarks at the Cleantech Investor Summit held on January 21 in Palm Springs, California.

Sinai said the FCC will make its recommendations on how to incorporate broadband Internet into the smart grid at within the National Broadband Plan that is due before Congress on March 17.  The specific recommendations include creating policy that encourages energy providers to give their customers access to energy consumption information in real time, promoting open standards, and ways the communications spectrum owned by the federal government could be used for smart grid deployment efforts.

The FCC’s plans are closely allied with the smart grid development strategies from companies with strong roots in the IT industry such as Cisco and IBM.  Sinai discussed FCC recommendations that would promote the development of smart grid supporting hardware and software that can interact directly with smart grid infrastructure.

Sinai came from a strong business background including stints as principal at Tenaya Capital and Polaris Ventures.  Julius Genachowski, chairman of the FCC, has taken a similar attitude promoting innovation throughout the government agency that is responsible for regulating all interstate communications within the United States.

Sinai said the FCC would look for ways to remove hurdles that prevent the use of open standards on commercial networks.  He said the commission is looking for ways that “encourage private networks built by utilities to operate in the same band, in order to drive down costs, and to drive open, non-proprietary standards.”  One way this could be accomplished, according to Sinai, is to work with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to look into available spectrum bands owned by the federal government.

American Electric Power (AEP), a large American utility currently in the midst of smart grid deployment, and trade groups that have represented the utility industry have been asking for wireless spectrum designated for smart grid use for a long time.  After all, when more smart devices are added to the power grid more network bandwidth will be required.  AEP told the FCC in 2009 that it believes a dedicated spectrum would be less prone to interference and more apt to deal with interference should it occur.  The FCC is seriously considering this approach.

Sinai also illustrated the importance of encouraging utilities to give their customers access to energy data compiled in real time.  Doing so would promote innovative developments and will encourage consumers to change their consumption patterns.  This sort of feedback, built upon accepted platforms, will allow smart grid stakeholders to develop innovative products and services.  “We must aspire for policies that facilitate the ferocious competition that drives innovation,” said Sinai.

The director added that the FCC is also finding ways to get utilities to quickly deploy smart grid technology that can provide information in real time.  For one, the FCC may work with the federal government to reward grants or provide loans states and utilities that have developed strong data access policies.  Another option is to develop data access policy at the national level.

Cisco Systems, Inc.
170 West Tasman Dr.
San Jose, CA 95134
http://www.cisco.com

IBM
One New Orchard Road
Armonk, NY 10504
http://www.ibm.com

Tenaya Capital
1000 Winter Street, North Entrance
Suite 1010
Waltham, Massachusetts 02451
http://www.tenayacapital.com

Polaris Ventures
1000 Winter Street
Suite 3350
Waltham, MA 02451
http://www.polarisventures.com

American Electric Power
1 Riverside Plaza
Columbus, Ohio, USA 43215-2372
http://www.aep.com

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