The Smart Grid website is maintained by the Federal government to provide the latest information on the progress of updating the electrical grid to a smart grid system. The smart grid initiative was authorized by Congress under Title XIII of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The information contained on this smart grid website will give you a comprehensive look at what the Smart Grid is and how the Federal government, working with industry, is bringing the electrical grid into the 21st century.

The electric grid is interwoven into the fabric of our everyday lives just as the highway systems are. Without a vision and a systematic plan to upgrade and modernize the grid, we will experience outages that compromise our way of life, impact our economy, and jeopardize our security. The National Public Radio series Power Hungry: Reinventing the U.S. Electric Grid presents the history of the grid and the challenges of creating a new, smarter, "green" grid for the future. This series will give you a good introduction to these challenges and what is being discussed to take the grid into the 21st Century, and it will provide an excellent backdrop for the remainder of the course.

Listen to this!

[2]

The Power Hungry series is a collection of National Public Radio broadcasts that have been placed on the Web and accompanied by text and visuals. Go to the Power Hungry website [2] and read the information and listen to the broadcasts for the entire series. It will take you one hour to listen to all of the broadcasts.

As you read and listen to the series, keep the following questions in mind...we will be discussing these in our lesson discussion assignment!

1. What do you think are the major congestion issues Mr. Mansoor of EPRI is referring to, and do you see the utility industry solving these? Do you believe these congestion issues will require a standardized, nationwide transmission siting criteria?
2. Many utilities are now looking at installing rooftop solar collection systems on commercial buildings to generate electricity for the commercial entity and store the remainder for the grid. If we can take this one step further—economical, easy-to-install rooftop solar systems for residential use—what do you think the utility industry's response will be? Will they embrace it? Will they attempt to offer the service to homeowners?
3. "Eisenhower was a master of military art," McNichol says. "He understood from his readings and history that the best road systems were built by the central government," including the roads built by Rome, Napoleon, and Hitler. Each state transportation department managed its own highway-building program, but the central plan was put forth and managed by the federal government. In today's culture of NIMBY ("Not in My Back Yard"), and congressional gridlock, how do you see the final act of a national grid authority being played out? Should it be a central top-down program managed by the government? Or, should it be managed by the private sector, with minimal government oversight?
4. The electric grid may be more important for the country's national security than the federal highway system is. If you accept this premise, then how should the grid be financed? Should it be funded by the federal government, just like the national highway system, or should it be a public-private venture or solely privately funded?
5. Currently, wind and solar energy generation have a greater cost per kilowatt hour than other sources of energy such as coal, hydro, nuclear, and natural gas. Do you see the cost of wind and solar dropping to compete with the other sources of energy? If so, why do you believe that will happen? If not, do you believe we will see a "green energy bubble"? What do you see as the major impediment to the mass use of solar and wind energy in the United States?

Discussion Activity

For this week, I want to you answer one of the questions listed below and comment on another student's post. This discussion will take place in a special discussion forum created for this purpose.

Directions

1. Post your response to at least two of these questions in the discussion forum
   • What do you think are the are the major congestion issues Mr. Mansoor of EPRI is referring to, and do you see the utility industry solving these? Do you believe these congestion issues will require a standardized, nation-wide transmission siting criteria? Explain your answer.
   • Many utilities are now looking at installing rooftop solar collection systems on commercial buildings to generate electricity for the commercial entity and store the remainder for the grid. If we can take this one step further – economical, easy-to-install rooftop solar systems for residential use – what do you think the utility industry's response will be? Will they embrace it? Will they attempt to offer the service to homeowners? Explain your answers.
   • "Eisenhower was a master of military art," McNichol says. "He understood from his readings and history that the best road systems were built by the central government," including the roads built by Rome, Napoleon, and Hitler. Each state transportation department managed its own highway-building program, but the central plan was put forth and managed by the federal government. In today's culture of NIMBY ("Not in My Back Yard"), and congressional gridlock, how do you see the final act of a national grid authority being played out? Should it be a central top-down program managed by the government? Or, should it be managed by the private sector, with minimal government oversight?
   • The electric grid may be more important for the country's national security than the federal highway system is. If you accept this premise, then how should the grid be financed? Should it be funded by the federal government, just like the national highway system, or should it be a public-private venture or solely privately funded?
   • Currently, wind and solar generation have a greater cost per kilowatt hour than other sources of energy, such as coal, hydro, nuclear, and natural gas. Do you see the cost of wind and solar dropping to compete with the other sources of energy? If so, why do you believe that will happen? If not, do you believe we will see a "green energy bubble"? What do you see as the major impediments to the mass use of solar and wind energy in the United Sates?
2. Read the postings made by the other GEOG 469 students.
3. Respond to at least one other posting by asking for clarification, asking a follow-up question, expanding on what has already been said, etc. Make sure your posting is meaningful! I do not want to see "I agree" type postings! Your responses should add value to the discussion.
4. Return to the discussion forum daily to read new postings, answer questions directed specifically to you, and to respond to any other postings of interest with your own questions or thoughts!

Grading Criteria

All students are expected to participate in the questions in their group discussions in a concise, well-organized, and scholarly manner. Saying, “I agree with Jennifer” is not adequate. You need to say why you agree (or disagree) and support your comments. Comments should be based on information obtained from appropriate reference sources, including lesson materials, previous coursework, Web-based information, or personal experience. You must use proper grammar and spelling for all contributions.

Your contributions to this assignment will be graded on a 15-point scale. Look at the discussion rubric [3] for more details about my expectations.

In this lesson, you were introduced to a great NPR production about the electric transmission grid in the United States. This 10-part series took you from an aged grid looking for a brighter future to a new grid and habits. Along the way, you read about how the grid evolved, the problems the grid has in meeting current and future demands, and how those demands will require a reinvention of the grid as we know it. I hope you came away with a better understanding of how the grid operates and how important a modern grid is to the security and economic viability of not only the United States but also to every industrialized nation in the world.

Reminder - Complete all of the lesson tasks!

You have finished Lesson 3. Double-check the list of requirements on the first page of this lesson to make sure you have completed all of the activities listed there before beginning the next lesson.