An Electric Revolution, Chapter Four: Microgrids: Where Technology and Consumers Connect
Reinventing the national electricity grid would not only be a jobs-producing super-project — easily exceeding the magnitude of the interstate freeways — but also a protocol for innovation, organizing the creation and distribution of power into something akin to an energy Internet. At the heart of this proposition are literally thousands of smart microgrids, encompassing large buildings, office parks, resorts, universities and entire communities. Augmenting and working in concert with the bulk grid, microgrids will incorporate alternative and renewable power generation, which in turn will expedite investments in such resources and reduce the reliance on conventional power sources.
While the present electromechanically controlled bulk power grid is analogous to a one-way radio broadcast, a network of microgrids would function more like the Internet, providing an instantly accurate, real-time, two-way flow of energy and information. Moreover, as alternative power generation systems are installed on homes and large buildings, microgrids can efficiently route any excess electricity produced to where there’s a shortage, reducing the need for expensive new and environmentally detrimental conventional power plants. Intelligent controls providing electricity rates in real time will enable consumers to make informed choices on consumption — using in-house computerized automated capabilities. This interwoven and strengthened power system will provide the unfailing electrical service reliability required in the digital era.
