Utilities Slow to Embrace Smart Grid

Friday, 12 March 2010 09:34

0 Comments

Image via CrunchBase

A new report released by Microsoft reveals that only eight percent of global utilities have completed their smart grid technology implementations. Although 37 percent have projects underway, more than 50 percent have not implemented any projects. The survey interviewed more than 200 utility professionals around the world who cited several reasons for the lag including financial considerations, regulatory issues, technology challenges and return on investment concerns.

Jon Arnold, Microsoft’s managing director for the Worldwide Power & Utilities Industry says the survey reflects “the disruptive nature of the smart grid revolution, and the innovations it brings, has caught many in the industry by surprise, including many utilities that already have embraced smart grid technologies.” Arnold also says the perception that the utility industry is unwilling to change is mistaken. “The survey shows the opposite. It’s the magnitude of change to everything from business models to systems that’s overwhelming, especially given utilities’ existing asset and technology investments combined with the need to ensure profitability and reliability.”

The Microsoft Worldwide Utility Industry Survey 2010 was released today during the CERAWeek 2010 energy forum in Houston. Its findings also showed that utility executives believed distribution management and smart metering solutions the most important technologies for successful smart grid implementation. Following a close second is integration of renewable energy sources into the smart grid and consumer energy management solutions. However, almost two-thirds of respondents located in the Americas do not think current information technologies will be adequate to solve future challenges. But less than half of respondents in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific believe the technologies are insufficient.

Julie Hance, VP of software solutions for Microsoft partner Itron North America says the objective is to “optimize current power generation and delivery assets to help utilities improve grid reliability; achieve demand response, environmental and conservation goals; and avoid unnecessary capital expenditures.” Hance says it will take industry-wide collaboration, “from the smart meter into the home and the smart meter back to the array of generation sources, to complete this complex task and achieve a smarter, more sustainable future.”

Jon Arnold adds: “The inevitability of change combined with financial and regulatory uncertainty makes it critical for utilities to begin implementing the right technology capabilities now to meet the challenge of any regulation, energy source or distribution need in the future.”