So, you want to direct a smart grid demo project?

Finding a smart grid project director for a nonprofit outfit strikes me as a tough assignment, but they're doing just that at the Pecan Street Project, Inc. in Austin, Texas.

First, seeking that job may be akin to running for president of the United States. Unless you're running for your second term, you have no direct experience. The job applicant's game of crafting relevant experience into a convincing reason-to-hire is always an exercise in perusasion. I'd personally be fascinated to see the curricula vitarum presumably piling up on the desk of Brewster McCracken, executive director of the Pecan Street Project, Inc., who leads the search.

Second, the nonprofit sector is getting a run for its money in this endeavor from private interests. Xcel Energy's SmartGridCity project in Boulder, Colo., saw its resident guru, Ray Gogel, slip away in June last year to take the chief operating officer position at Current Group. Xcel told me yesterday that successive directors have also been lured away. That's a new twist on the old "if you build it, they will come." ("They" now being executive recruiters and profit-driven vendors.)

Yet the opportunity to live in Austin and be part of a historic smart grid demo project certainly sounds like it offers a real variety of benefits, including future employment opportunities. (And, of course, lots of great music and people.)

Let's take a look at the qualifications being sought by the Pecan Street Project, Inc., which is the nonprofit entity now charged with shepherding smart grid technology into place in Austin's Mueller development (pronounced "Miller"), a 711-acre mixed use neighborhood being built out on the former site of Austin's municipal airport. And, while we're at it, I'll work in the latest from Austin's smart grid demonstration project.

After all, with jobs scarce, and smart grid demonstrations just getting off the ground (or not, depending on whether U.S. Department of Energy money is actually flowing to stimulus award recipients), the offer in Austin has to be one of the more intriguing employment opportunities out there.

Colin Rowan, who performs public relations for the project, told me that in about two weeks the project will issue a report that marks the project's transition from brainstorming (Phase I) to actual work (Phase II). That report, due March 24, will offer 39 recommendations.

One point that needs addressing, Rowan said: city policies need to encourage the wise energy usage and energy efficiency practices that ought to accompany the technological upgrades promised by smart grid implementation.

In that sense, Rowan emphasized, Austin may have an advantage over other municipal smart grid projects. The seven-member city council also serves as the municipal utility's (Austin Energy) board of directors, potentially streamlining decisions on city policies that affect the Pecan Street Project, Inc.     

The project director will be the hub for a dizzying array of stakeholders, which include the city of Austin, Austin Energy, University of Texas, Austin Technology Incubator, Environmental Defense Fund, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Catellus, the Greater Austin Chamber and others. Add an executive committee, a technology review advisory committee and a technology director to that list.

On the nuts and bolts side, the project director is charged with mitigating risks, managing budgets and keeping everyone up to speed, including the beloved public. The Austinites seek someone with past project management work and certification, software proficiency and experience leading multi-organizational teams.

So, as with project management anywhere, leadership, diplomacy, patience and time management skills will be required. (That counts me out.) 

"This is all theory now," Rowan said, referring to the smart grid demo project itself and its transition from Phase I to Phase II. "Now we need to try it out."

According to Rowan, contracts between the DOE and the local nonprofit have been signed and he said "we're very close to seeing a dollar," when I asked whether federal money had flowed yet.

And it looks like, as in Boulder, there's no shortage of vendors who'd like their products or services tested in Austin, Rowan said, from multi-national corporations to shoestring start-ups.

Perhaps apropos of recent headlines on climate change science, Rowan also pointed out that the Environmental Defense Fund's (EDF) Jim Marston is on the project's executive committee as the resident environmental advocate.

"Of all the environmental organizations out there, the EDF has got it right," Cowan said. "And they're here to remind us that the environmental aspect of this project is an intentional consequence, not an incidental consequence."

That's the news from Austin this week.

Phil Carson
Editor-in-chief
Intelligent Utility Daily
pcarson@energycentral.com
303-228-4757