One of the questions that we frequently face in our discussions with utility companies is how can a utility get the maximum value from data it gets from its meters, from their DSM programs, from the T&D grid, etc? The so-called Big Data Companies [you know who you are] come up with complex answers supported by slick Powerpoint slides and correspondingly eye-popping budgets. Our approach always has been that the answer is much simpler if you first take time to understand what you want to achi... [More]

It looks like we are going to be flooded pretty much for the near foreseeble future in the nation's capital! Although we have for the most part, escaped serious damage, it feels like mother nature is hell bent on washing us off into the Atlantic....It makes it all the more difficult to focus on news items trumpeting the oncoming deluge of data from SmartGrid and what utilities need to do to take advantage of billions of terabytes of data - finally, something other than our national debt with inc... [More]

One repeatedly hears that utilities are spending a lot of time and money on educating the customer on what they are doing. This is especially true as for as initiatives like Smart Grid, DSM, time-of-use or real-time pricing, etc are concerned. IBM recently released the results of a global survey of 10,000 consumers in 17 countries in which they asked them about their knowledge of these utility programs. Nearly 50% had no idea what these meant - that is not good news for utilities. It also shows ... [More]

We see the media barrage on Smart Grid projects and discussions of what to do with massive torrents of data coming in from smart meters and other devices in homes, offices and at various grid points. An area that has been getting less attention is the security threa posed by those interested in breaking into corporate web sites and through them into the sensitvie data stored by those companies on their customers. I came across an interesting report from McAfee about the prolonged attack on ... [More]

California PUC had been directed by the state legislature to publish new rules to ensure that the major electric utilities in the state protect the privacy of smart meter data. In response, the CPUC recently published a proposed decision ["Decision Adopting Rules to Protect the Privacy and Security of the Electricity Usage Data of the Customers of Pacific Gas & Electric Company, Southern California Edison Company, and San Diego Gas & Electric Company,” May 6, 2011].  Accordin... [More]