Expert: Cities Like Worcester Must Lead On Smart Grid
Eyes tend to glaze over when energy conservation and efficiency experts talk shop, said John Odell, who handles such matters for the City of Worcester.
"Electricity isn't going to be interesting," Odell said. "But the choices you are going to have (to make) will be."
Officials from National Grid, with the help of several nationally known speakers, urged an audience of approximately 250 people this morning that the stakes are high enough to pay close attention.
Van Jones, a senior fellow at the American Center for Progress, and former green jobs adviser to the Obama administration, said green energy efforts in the country thus far are not enough. Jones said the United States' outdated and inefficient electricity infrastructure imperils the future of its economy, which faces challenges from the massive investments China has made in its clean energy industry.
Giving consumers the ability to monitor their electricity consumption in real time, and the choice to use cheaper energy during off-peak hours would be powerful tools that would change consumption habits, Jones said.
He compared implementing smart grid technology, as National Grid is preparing to do in Worcester starting next year, to the creation of the interstate highway system and the invention of the internet.
Both of those developments came in response to threats of potential attacks to America.
Now, Jones said, America faces economic threat, as well as the threats of pollution and global warming from using dirtier sources of energy.
"We live in a little green soap bubble in space," he said. "In this century, humanity itself is on trial."
And with Congress unable to agree on anything, it will be up to smaller efforts like the partnership between National Grid and Worcester to get the ball rolling, he said.
National Grid intends to file plans with the Massachusetts Department of Utilities at the end of this year to implement a smart grid pilot program for 15,000 customers in Worcester, spokeswoman Deborah Drew said.
The program was announced in 2008, but was delayed after National Grid voluntarily withdrew a previous application in February. The company said it wanted to incorporate newer technologies and seek more community input. The utility's originally announced $56 million investment in the program is expected to shrink.
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