Smart Grid Today talks Perfect Power Institute™

In an October 24 article, Smart Grid Today talked with the Galvin Electricity Initiative's John Kelly about the Perfect Power Institute and new interest among several munis and universities to test the Perfect Power Seal of Approval™.

 
Smart Grid Today (October 24, 2011)
Munis, schools may test LEED-like system for power providers
5 entities show interest in PPI's rating system

An offshoot of the Galvin Electricity Initiative has generated interest among several munis and universities to test a LEED-like certification system for power providers, John Kelly, executive director of both Galvin and the newly formed Perfect Power Institute (PPI), told us last week.  Success of the rating system will depend on interested munis and universities acting on behalf of their less-energy-aware community members, he predicted.  The independent nonprofit group, formally announced last week during the Great Lakes Symposium on Smart Grid and the New Energy Economy in Chicago, will “transform the way power systems are designed and operated,” it boasted.

The institute also is considering rolling part of its rating system into LEED certification, Kelly said.  Those discussions with LEED are ongoing, but it could add the PPI system's environmental awareness requirements – which help promote renewable energy integration – Into LEED, he said.

Currently, LEED-certified buildings can get LEED distinction even if supplied by coal-fired plants, Kelly said.

Incorporating the environmental aspect of PPI's system into LEED would potentially make earning LEED distinction more difficult, he said.

EPB in Chattanooga, Tenn, the City of Leesburg, Fla, the City of Oak Park, Ill, Princeton University and University of California at San Diego all have discussed pioneering PPI's rating system, called the Perfect Power Seal of Approval, Kelly said.   Currently, the San Rafael, Calif-based Marin Energy Authority, City of Naperville, Ill, and Pecan Street Inc, project in Austin, Texas, are the only entities using the system, he said.

“All of the criteria are driven by what consumers have asked for, but the reality is the adopters of something like this are the developers who are trying to attract people,” Kelly said.  “The consumer doesn't have to know all the details of everything.”

The system will help foster best practices, emulating a LEED certification process, Kelly said.

The program identifies metrics and design criteria to promote cost effectiveness, transparency and community involvement, environmental awareness and system efficiency.  The system offers a seal for each of those four categories, which reduces the investment burden to earn certification rather than striving for a wholesale certification, he said.  At the same time, those smaller, more attainable goals encourage planners to consider future investments to earn more seals, he added.

Outcomes most important
The power industry needs common best practices and enhanced information sharing for grid modernization projects to change archaic ways of thinking about grid investment, experts told us recently (SGT, Sep-28).  For example, many utilities struggle to sell state regulators on capital investments for modernization because few states offer financial compensation for the amount of power saved by smart grid technologies.

QUOTABLE:  I think it turns the conversation from being about making it ‘smarter' -- no one understands what that is -- to being about measurable things.  What we think consumers care about is an outcome, not just a smarter grid. But we know that the smart grid is part of producing those outcomes.
Perfect Power Institute (PPI) Executive Director John Kelly

Noting popular ambiguity about what smart grid means, Kelly envisions PPI's system to act much like how LEED building owners use their certification to entice occupants.

PPI's system could serve as a stamp on a university or municipality's energy consciousness, he said. For that reason, consumers likely will determine the system's fate, albeit in a more indirect way, he said.

“It needs to go slow.  We've only got a beta version out,” Kelly said.  “If it's of value, then people will adopt it slowly and it will grow.  If it's not of value, then it will be cast off to the side.”

Microgrids come first
Initially, the system will focus on microgrids, the institute said.  Those include college campus microgrids, community and utility microgrids and municipal utility systems.  Applicants will submit data to the institute for evaluation in four categories: consumer empowerment; cost; efficiency and environment, and reliability.

The system also could be a smart grid project evaluation tool, Kelly said.  The metrics can guide planners deciding between vendors, help munis and  other utilities set grid modernization goals and assist consumer advocacy groups, government officials and regulators in conducting cost-benefit analyses, he said.

The institute will convene city and government officials, regulators, suppliers and utilities, Kelly said.  Its partners include Camas, Wash-based testing firm Underwriters Laboratories, the Robert W Galvin Center for Electricity Innovation at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Mill Valley, Calif-based power aggregator LEAN Energy US, Chicago-based switching gear manufacturer S&C Electric, Pecan Street Project and the International District Energy Assn.

Its board also includes Christopher Galvin, Michael Galvin and Kurt Yeager, former executive director of the Galvin Electricity Initiative.  An executive advisory committee stocked with members from business and power includes S&C CEO John Estey, former US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, Commonwealth Edison CEO Anne Pramaggiore and Exelon CEO John Rowe.

© 2011 Modern Markets Intelligence Inc..  IMPORTANT: This article was reproduced from the October 24, 2011 issue of Smart Grid Today with the limited permission of the owner.  To view the full story on Smart Grid Today’s website, please visit http://www.smartgridtoday.com/public/Munis_schools_may_test_LEEDlike_ltbrgtsystem_for_power_providers.cfm?sd=31.