BOULDER, Colo. - Sixty percent of the energy in America is provided by investor-owned utilities that usually require powerful market forces to embrace change. Right now billions in stimulus money are driving a rapid and controversial buildout of so-called smart meters, which are supposed to reduce energy consumption by providing utilities detailed and time-sensitive data that ratepayers are eventually supposed to use to reduce their consumption.

The problem is, according to a Colorado engineer and policy consultant who's worked with the technology for decades, smart meters are not actually helping reduce energy use. In addition to raising health and privacy concerns, he says utilities are promoting the meters instead of prioritizing renewable energy. In a new report, Dr. Tim Schoechle examines what he says is our real priority: updating the nation's electrical grid. He calls the many billions spent on smart meters "a misappropriation of public resources."

"Well, I think that it's diverting resources and creating vulnerabilities. It diverts resources and technical development from the direction it should be going."

Schoechle, who is the author of "Getting Smarter About the Smart Grid," says a real "smart grid" would connect the utility with a neighborhood micro-grid that can balance energy production with usage locally.

Building a more intelligent grid is critical to balancing supply and demand using renewable energy. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, NREL, says it's feasible to get at least 80 percent of our energy from a mix of renewables - like solar, wind, geothermal or hydropower - by 2050. But it will take a more intelligent grid, says NREL engineer Maureen Hand.

"It's a matter of acknowledging the need to adjust our operation and planning practices in order to move in the direction of a much more flexible electric system."

Xcel Energy selected Boulder to become the world's first "fully integrated Smart Grid city" in 2007, and in March 2008 the City Council agreed to put aside research on forming a municipal utility to meet Boulder's greenhouse gas emission reduction goals. That ended in 2011 at the ballot box when Boulder voters decided Xcel Energy wasn’t moving to renewable sources quickly enough and authorized the city to study municipalization.

Engineer Schoechle says the goal is integrating renewable sources locally.

"They're just getting there. But there's a lot more needed, because to integrate those with the electric grid, you have to have a smart grid. A real smart grid."

While supporters say community-based power systems can more quickly and effectively adopt renewable energy sources, city leadership is clear that all options are still on the table.

Meanwhile, Boulder has 20,000 smart meters installed (as of May 2012).

Schoechle's report is at gettingsmarteraboutthesmartgrid.org; NREL data are at 1.usa.gov/M7Cfzi; Boulder latest is at bit.ly/TMA9tm.



get more stories like this via email

Groups concerned about pollution and climate change are asking Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a trio of bills dubbed the "make polluters pay" package.

Assembly Bill 1866 would increase fees on 40,000 idle oil wells and accelerate cleanup.

Nayamin Martinez, executive director of the Central California Environmental Justice Network, said right now, companies often pay fees without actually cleaning up "orphan wells."

"The authorities are not proactively going and inspecting these sites," Martinez pointed out. "We have a program that goes to do inspections on active and abandoned uncapped wells, and we have found that many of them are leaking."

The Western States Petroleum Association argued current regulations are sufficient and companies are making progress plugging their idle wells.

A second measure, Assembly Bill 3233, would protect local communities' rights to limit oil drilling. It comes in response to a lawsuit from Chevron, eliminating a part of 'Measure Z' in Monterey County, which would have required companies to phase out oil drilling in that area.

Raquel Mason, senior legislative manager for the California Environmental Justice Alliance, said oil wells leak methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and release other toxic substances into the air and water.

"Those pollutants that are coming off these wells can have different health-harming impacts like respiratory issues, different types of cancer, headaches, nosebleeds," Mason outlined. "We hear about too often from community members who are living near these types of facilities."

A third bill would fine oil companies in the Inglewood Oil Field in Los Angeles $10,000 a month for operating low-producing wells near local neighborhoods.

Colorado's second-largest electricity provider, the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, projects new federal clean energy funding will lower costs to Tri-State ratepayers by $420 million over the next 20 years.

Jeremy Fisher, principal adviser for climate and energy at the Sierra Club, said many urban customers are already benefiting from less costly wind and solar power, largely generated in wide-open, rural spaces.

"While that can be great for jobs and has been fantastic economic development opportunities, a lot of rural customers haven't actually seen those direct benefits accrue to their bills," Fisher pointed out.

Tri-State is one of 16 rural electric cooperatives selected to get a chunk of more than $7 billion allocated through the Biden administration's Empowering Rural America Program, the largest investment in rural electrification since the Great Depression.

The cooperative plans to replace 1,100 megawatts of coal-fired electricity with wind, solar and battery storage. The plan would also cut nearly six tons of climate pollution, the equivalent of tailpipe pollution from 1.4 million gas-powered cars, each year.

Tri-State is set to receive up to $679 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-directed program. Fisher noted the utility has committed up to $70 million to support Moffat County communities, including the town of Craig, where Unit Three of Tri-State's coal plant will close by 2028.

"I think Tri-State has been a leading entity in really pursuing ways of engaging with the communities that are impacted by those closures," Fisher acknowledged. "To ensure that there's employment benefit and financial benefit flowing to those communities."

Fisher believes the program will ensure electric co-ops like Tri-State can remain competitive and resilient, and keep good-paying clean energy jobs in rural communities.

"Leading utilities are stepping up to the plate and have put forward ambitious plans that will be transformational to those communities, and transformational to these energy systems," Fisher concluded.

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation has been awarded a grant to cut climate pollution.

It is part of the Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Pollution Reductions grant program. The funding will be spent on installing electric vehicle charging stations at government buildings around the reservation.

Raheim Eleazer, environmental liaison for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, hopes to install at least a dozen charging stations. He said the funding will help reduce emissions in other ways.

"We're also hoping to electrify some of the governmental fleet vehicles," Eleazer explained. "We're hoping to do 13 of those whether it's hybrid or fully electric vehicles."

Another project for the grant funding involves helping 34 people living on the reservation convert or support their gas-powered cars through a rebate program. He pointed out reducing pollution from transportation has substantial health benefits. Connecticut's worsening air quality has increased asthma rates for Mashantucket Pequot Tribe members. While the grant runs for five years, each project has its own timeline.

Feedback to the grant has been resoundingly positive. Eleazer pointed out electric-vehicle charging stations are a big focus for the community. He thinks the new charging stations will encourage people to buy electric vehicles and added it is only the start, since the comprehensive climate action plan outlines plans for other renewable energy projects.

"The possibility or the interest of producing or generating energy from renewable resources such as solar," Eleazer suggested. "I know I have personally been looking into potentially thermal networking for the reservation."

He emphasized creating a microgrid is also an option with interest being shown by the community in diversifying energy generation, because he argued using one renewable energy source is not sustainable in New England.


get more stories like this via email