Smart Grid Requires Smart Leadership

To create a real smart grid needs more than just smarts; it needs leadership.

In a letter to The Wall Street Journal, Accenture U.K. and Ireland managing director David Thomlinson writes: There is plenty of competition for clean technologies, but no country has yet established a leadership position in the evolution of smart grids.

With smart metering, Thomlinson notes, reducing demand for electricity becomes easier to accomplish.

The demand side has been an unfashionable part of energy policy for 30 years. Now we see smart meters being implemented to help consumers manage their consumption. But it is only through the transformation of our electricity networks into so-called smart grids that we can significantly reduce carbon emissions of buildings and vehicles.

The intelligence behind all of this will come from those with IT skills to create the needed systems and networks. In the U.S., with his energy and environmental nominees, there’s hope that President-elect Obama (above left with environmental advisor Carol Browner) will provide that leadership.

How Fast Can Smart-Grid JobsBe Created Under Obama Plan?

Can the smart grid provide jobs quickly based on existing technology that will be flexible to adapt
to the innovations of tomorrow?

That’s a question raised by Patti Harper-Slaboszewicz, director of advanced metering and meter-data management at energy researcher and consultancy UtiliPoint International, who has analyzed comments made by the top nominees of President-elect Obama’s energy team. In her analysis posted on UtiliPoint’s website. Harper-Slatoszewicz says she’s aware of at least 100 projects far enough along to produce jobs at all levels, entry-level workers to manufacturing to professional. She writes:

Some of these projects may be in limbo waiting for confirmation that the project fits the description of the transformation to green energy and sustainability that the energy team is looking for. Smart metering projects, for example, need meter installers, appointment schedulers, manufacturing, project managers, software, software integrators, customer service training, marketing, network design and installation, computer hardware, uniforms, and more. Projects typically take four to five years to roll out, resulting in positions that would carry employees past the economic recovery period.

Smart meters don’t stand alone, and need an energy Internet with IT smarts to function. As Harper-Slatoszewicz notes:

Smart metering and the associated back office systems and hardware support innovative energy pricing that marry energy efficiency with demand response, allowing customers to reduce peak energy use and conserve energy, resulting in a reduction of green house gases, lower costs, and postponing or avoiding the need to build peaking plants that are only used 100 to 200 hours per year during seasonal demand or during an unexpected outage due to equipment issues.

Obama Constituencies May Clash Over Clean Cars, Protecting Jobs

Two strong backers of Barack Obama presidential bid, environmentalists and union autoworkers, could be butting heads over an auto industry bailout and the aim to manufacture energy-efficient cars. According to an Associated Press analysis:

The United Auto Workers, along with Detroit's Big Three, are pushing for an infusion of emergency loans for the carmakers' immediate needs—even if that means diverting $25 billion that had been set aside for creating cleaner vehicles. Environmentalists balk at that notion, saying the money is sacrosanct and insisting that any new help be tied to strict requirements for greener cars.

Unions provided far more financial support to Obama and Democratic candidates than environmental organizations—more than 20 times as much in the last election, the AP reports, citing the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan campaign finance research organization. Still, the AP says, environmental groups enjoy powerful allies in the Democratic Party—House Speaker Nancy Pelosi prominent among them—and exert a strong pull in policy debates.

"It is a challenge, because here you have the union core group that supports the Democratic Party and was very strong supporting Obama's candidacy, and you have environmental groups who also are very strong in the Democratic Party, and when it comes to autos, those two constituencies conflict with each other," Richard Hurd, a Cornell University labor relations professor, tells the news agency.

Obama on Richardson, Green Jobs

Here's what President-elect Barack Obama said Wednesday when he nominated New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson as his Commerce Secretary:

As a former Secretary of Energy, Bill understands the steps we must take to build a new, clean-energy industry and create the green jobs of the 21st century. Jobs that pay well and won’t be shipped overseas—jobs that will help us end our dependence on foreign oil.

Who'll Pay for the Smart Grid?

A consumer advocate wonders who will pay for a smart electrical grid.

The executive director of the Illinois consumer watchdog Citizens Utility Board, David Kolata, writes on SouthtownStar.com:

President-elect Obama favors development of a "smart grid," but big questions remain about how it gets built and who foots the bill. The big utilities are all-too-eager to slap consumers with the costs before we see any of the energy-saving improvements. We're fighting them on that front but need federal policies to help protect consumers.

Stimulis Could Provide $50 Billion for Green Projects

As part of its economic stimulus package, the Obama administration may earmark $50 billion to fund environmentally sound infrastructure projects, according to a key economic advisor.

Obama adviser and Economic Policy Institute economist Jared Bernstein (left) along with other economists see the money funding at least $50 billion in environmentally sound infrastructure projects that could be up and running within a few months, according to a posting on Bloomberg.com.

Among the steps along the “green path,” Bernstein said, could be a requirement that repairs made to public buildings be environmentally friendly.

According to Bloomberg:

A critical mass of support for clean-energy spending and green-collar-job creation is building among environmentalists, labor groups, local governments and companies such as Google Inc. and American Electric Power Co., the biggest U.S. producer of electricity from coal.

The loosely knit coalition is advocating for what (Obama transition team advisor Bracken) Hendricks calls a “green recovery” stimulus that would create jobs with an eye toward conserving resources and reducing reliance on fossil fuels such as coal and oil.

Google backs long-term tax rebates for renewable energy plus a federal investment in electric smart-grid technology to cut energy use by developing two-way communications between utilities and their customers. Again Bloomberg:

Both provisions would create high-technology jobs, said Harry Wingo, energy policy counsel for Google, which has been meeting with Obama advisers and Capitol Hill lawmakers.

Green-jobs provisions “are going to lead to more job creation here and put us in a better spot to compete for the global market in clean energy,” Wingo said.

And, no doubt, among those new jobs will be some for IT pros to make the smart-grid, well, smart.

Smart Grid = IT Jobs

The incoming Barack Obama administration's commitment to a smart grid should increase the demand for those with IT skills to help enhance the so-called energy Internet. The following is from Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle:

Obama is considering creating an energy council within the White House, much like the National Economic Council. He has asked former EPA administrator Carol Browner to lead his transition team on energy and the environment. The economic stimulus plan could offer Obama a chance to make an early mark on energy: It is expected to include a multibillion-dollar investment in a "smart grid," upgrading the nation's electrical transmission system to boost energy efficiency while also creating new jobs.

Movement on the energy council will come after Obama names an energy secretary. Possible nominees include Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius; Dan Reicher, a former assistant energy secretary in the Clinton administration who directs energy and climate initiatives for Google.org; and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Also, according to the Chronicle, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would be a "splashy pick," but he's says he plans to finish his term.

Trade Group Advises Obama on Advancing the Smart Grid

The Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition issued on Tuesday policy recommendations to President-elect Barack Obama and the incoming Congress that the association contends will stimulate the economy, enhance infrastructure and create green jobs.

One of the goals of the trade association of smart-grid technology providers, if realized, could create green jobs for IT professionals.

Provide electricity customers with new information, technologies and tools to control their electricity bills and increase their energy efficiency practices With electricity prices rising and consumer budgets being stretched, it is essential to provide customers with new energy saving tools, including new pricing structures and rates, as well as better information and feedback about how they use electricity. This will give them new ability to lower their electricity bills.

What's needed is not just more information and tools to let consumers make smart decisions on energy use, but technology to automate the entire process, without regular human intervention, as outlined in Tom Friedman's Hot, Flat and Crowded: an energy Internet.

Big Pay Cut for Some Going Green

The press is buzzing with President-elect Barack Obama’s proposed stimulus package to create 2.5 million jobs over two years. Among the jobs most often mentioned is the insulation installer, who’ll help make homes and other buildings more energy efficient. At the same time, we're inundated with stories of the potential bankruptcy of one or more of the Big 3 automakers that could results in tens of thousands of assembly workers losing their jobs.

How much pay would the average autoworker lose if he or she became an insulation installer? A lot. The insulation installer earns about 75% of what an autoworker makes.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, based on May 2007 figures, the mean salary of an assembler at a motor-vehicle manufacturer was $20.28 an hour or $42,190 a year. For an insulation installer: $15.04 an hour or $31,280 annually. But the gap between the two occupations is likely greater, considering that the autoworkers whose jobs are threatened work in unionized shops, where the salaries are about $28 an hour, according to an analysis conducted by Jonathan Cohn, published on The New Republic's website.

Of course, most of these new installers won’t be former autoworkers. Still, what these numbers show is that some green occupations will not offer salaries anywhere near as high of those paid by old-line manufacturers. But that’s not news, is it? And, the government projects growth in insulation installation jobs by 2016 but not those on America's assembly lines.

Here's what the BLS said about employment growth for insulation workers in the 2008-2009 edition of its Occupation Outlook Handbook, published before the need for a new stimulus package was imagined:

Employment of insulation workers is expected to increase 8 percent during the 2006-16 decade, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Demand for insulation workers will be spurred by the continuing need for energy efficient buildings and power plant construction, both of which will generate work in existing structures and new construction.

BLS wasn't optimistic about assembly line workers (it didn't provide specific numbers on autoworkers):

Employment of assemblers and fabricators is expected to decline slowly by 4% between 2006 and 2016. Within the manufacturing sector, employment of assemblers and fabricators will be determined largely by the growth or decline in the production of certain manufactured goods.