Smart Grid Projects Save On Costs, Environment

In an effort to reduce harmful greenhouse gases that cause global warming and in a move towards energy independence, business enterprises and entities, in addition to the retail sector, are putting in place smart grid projects. The goal is to save on energy costs.

According to their particular infrastructure, a variety of smart grid projects can be introduced by business entities. For example, energy management software can be embraced to track and report energy usage, renewable generation — wind power or solar panels — can be studied, or smart meters can be introduced, which do a much better job of monitoring electricity use.

As time goes on, regulators and policymakers at the federal level, together with environmentalists, are increasing their push toward energy efficiency. The recent economic stimulus plan introduced by the Obama administration introduced billions of dollars to help modernize the country's energy grid. Business entities have been told to tap into this federal funding to help them improve and update their energy infrastructure.

In the retail sector, as in business in general, electricity and energy efficiency is moving to center stage. As security and reliability is sought, there will surely be a need for information technology and management on the road to success. Entities need to ensure interoperability of systems and devices throughout their infrastructure.

Energy independence and prosperity is key, and smart grid projects are aiming for a lasting legacy. Numerous areas exist on this road to success: power can be tracked and usage controlled, energy bills lowered by allocating usage to off-peak times, energy usage can be monitored at the device level, and energy needs fulfilled through response to demand.

The future health of our planet is at stake and we must act now to reduce pollutants, limit greenhouse gas emissions and water usage. Smart grid projects will help us in this fight as we reduce pollutants and control certain energy types that we know to be a significant contributor to global warming.

A major document is expected to be released in September 2009, directed by the U.S. Congress as one of the initiatives aimed at energy efficiency and independence. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, part of the US Commerce Department, is to create a Smart Grid Interoperability Standards Roadmap. This roadmap will establish priorities in distribution and transmission, set the building to grid standards for commercial entities, industrial to grid for the industry sector, home to grid for residential consumers and will also establish business and policy issues as well as cyber security.

Energy management software will be one of the keys to provide companies with extensive information about their consumption as energy costs continue to rise. This will be a valuable tool to compare usage throughout their sites and locations, and by combining historical with real-time data, will be able to manage usage, control costs and implement energy efficiency projects.

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