More than just smart meters

 

IDEALLY, THE INTELLIGENT UTILITY IS EVOLVING, PIECE BY PIECE, system by system, into a "system of systems" whereby the whole, and the abilities of the whole, become immensely more than the sum of its parts. On an architectural level, the disparate components are coming together, piece by piece, to form the whole. On a human level, the departments and responsibilities within the utility might be taking a little longer.

System-of-systems architecture
The architectural approach has been aptly described by K. Mani Chandy of the California Institute of Technology and fellow authors Jeff Gooding and Jeremy McDonald of Southern California Edison in their paper, "Smart Grid System-of- Systems Architectures: Systems Evolution to Guide Strategic Investments in Modernizing the Electric Grid" (see FastFacts box).

"The component systems are separately acquired and integrated to form a single system, yet maintain a continuous operational existence independent of the collaborative system," they wrote. "A consequence is that properties, which do not belong to any of the constituent parts, will emerge from the combined system of systems. Moreover, the system-of-systems evolves as constituent systems are replaced."

It is these inherently new properties that we are already seeing beginning to emerge. They are nascent, to be sure, but will mature quickly.

Chandy et al. note that there are three trends that affect the evolution of smart grid architecture: evolving to a system of everything, the penetration of the Internet and the Web, and the continuous evolution of a heterogeneous smart grid.

System-of-everything
"We use the hyperbole, system-of-everything, to make the point that the grid is one of the focal points by which individuals and organizations monitor and control their lives and many systems and networks that are self-contained now will be connected in the future," they wrote.

This is a heady concept, but is in fact precisely where we are headed. To date, though, utilities seem to be ahead of at least a portion of their customers in terms of understanding this. Chandy et al. argue that today's youth, however, will lead the charge, and the change: "Widespread access to broadband and increasing use of smart phones and tablet computers has resulted in large segments of the public, especially the young, viewing the Internet as a system of everything. This view is likely to strengthen as today's youth enter the workforce," they said.

Translating that to the electric utility sector is just a matter of time. "The evolution of smart grid architecture will reflect the evolution of Internet architecture because society will not want two competing systems-of-everything," say the authors. "Moreover, consumers and organizations will want tighter control of their electrical devices and information as energy tariffs based on time-of-day become common and they will expect to manage their devices using the same Internet protocols they use for other activities."

We are already seeing this begin to occur. If there's an "app for that," and it's easy to understand and to use, it's likely to be more accepted by utility consumers than something requiring focus and work. And if it works on mobile devices, all the better.

Heterogeneous smart grid
The incongruous nature of smart grid evolution and the information infrastructure supporting it is, simply, the nature of the beast. Chandy, Gooding and McDonald say this is true for several reasons: "Different grid functions have widely different system characteristics such as requirements for security, timeliness and bandwidth; for example, these requirements are very different for fault protection and metering, and for demand response in homes versus industrial facilities."

As well, looking more broadly, this evolution will vary from utility to utility, depending upon their own needs and the needs of their consumers. One rural cooperative's smart grid will look decidedly different than, say, that of a large investor-owned utility covering a wide variety of geographies and population sizes. Economics come into play, as well, in terms of the technologies used to build each internal system.

Avoiding accidental architecture
"Accidental architecture"-a term used in 2009 by Tony Giroti, chairman and managing director of BRIDGE Energy Group, in a paper titled "Integration Roadmap for Smart Grid: From Accidental Architecture to Smart Grid Architecture"-is what we'd like to avoid along the way. An accidental architecture is what happens when integration complexity is grossly underestimated. Accidental architecture happens by default.

To become a whole more than the sum of its technological parts, the smart grid must avoid accidental architecture. Strategic IT planning is essential. "The electric power industry has two choices," Giroti wrote. "One, to be proactive and have a strategy for managing grid operations and IT transformation through a strategic `smart grid integration architecture,' or two, be reactive and tactical in responding to problems as they occur.

"The latter approach is risky and will prove to be a major impediment to smart grid success."

Avoiding the IT/OT silos
Giroti points out that "IT and Power Systems Engineering (OT) applications have typically operated in silos due to the lack of any compelling need for integration-integration between business units, integration between business processes, integration between applications, and even integration of databases."

While that particular siloization has begun to change within utilities, some have been, to date, more successful than others. Best practices are being shared, personnel are being shared, and the business drivers to develop a standardized approach to integration are definitely becoming clearer.

Challenges still to overcome
There are still hurdles to overcome. Change comes slowly, and budgets alone affect organizational structures in a way that is often not clearly understood by the utility outsider looking in.

But we're already seeing unexpected properties emerging from combined systems. Take, for example, the increased focus on analysis of data from smart meters and other smart devices on the grid. Some of the blooming new uses for this data-in terms of increased reliability, new equipment replacement scheduling based on the true health of devices such as transformers, etc.-is an added bonus to the planned uses for load management, outage management and the like. And there will be more as time goes on and people within utility organizations continue to think about, "What if?" and "Can we find out...?"

The best thing about evolution is that it never ends.