WEBVTT - What is the smart grid? 0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:04.760 Welcome to Stuff from the Science Lab from how stuff 0:00:04.760 --> 0:00:16.160 works dot com. Hey guys, I'm up to the podcast. 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:17.959 This is Alsam, I don't know if the science editor 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:20.439 at how stuff works dot com. And this is Robert Lamb, 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:23.479 science writer and how stuff works dot com. Colling to this, Allison, 0:00:23.600 --> 0:00:27.440 what is your favorite high tech gadget in the house. Well, 0:00:27.480 --> 0:00:29.520 I don't know how high tech it is, but um, 0:00:29.560 --> 0:00:33.360 I believe early in the morning. My favorite gadget in 0:00:33.400 --> 0:00:36.120 the house is definitely in the orange espresso machine that 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:41.519 we have orange espresso, like it makes espresso out of oranges. No, 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:44.400 it's orange colored and I think it's fancy and I've 0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:49.479 finally mastered it. Oh the machines orange espresso is espresso 0:00:49.600 --> 0:00:52.080 is kind of a brownish color with this little lighter 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:54.920 brown foam on top, and then you can't even see 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:57.160 the brown color because then it's covered by this nice 0:00:57.160 --> 0:00:59.959 steamed milk that I do with a little cinnamon on top. 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:02.480 That's delicious. Well that's pretty cool. Yeah, my favorite high 0:01:02.520 --> 0:01:05.680 tech gadget is probably the the Xbox three sixty. Of 0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:07.840 course it is because it has games and stuff on 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:10.720 because you mentioned it on every podcast, not every podcast, 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:13.319 A few it's been just been really good of late 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:16.560 because of that that darned Western game. But but anyway, 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:19.640 my point being as high tech as these gadgets are, 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:24.039 the electric grid that that that fuels them with their 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:27.840 energy is not necessarily all that high tech, um. But 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:31.760 it is a crazy, large, complicated machine, perhaps the world's 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:35.319 largest machine. I've heard that tauted. And it's depending a 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:38.319 lot of it's depending on like hundred year old infrastructure, 0:01:38.840 --> 0:01:41.839 some fifty year old assets. It's like this weird mix 0:01:41.920 --> 0:01:46.520 of of just really outdated stuff and just cutting edge um, 0:01:46.560 --> 0:01:49.800 you know technology. Um. And it's to the point where 0:01:49.840 --> 0:01:52.320 it's not really that efficient or not as if not 0:01:52.360 --> 0:01:54.680 nearly as efficient as we need it to be. Yeah, 0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:56.360 and as it could be. And so that's why we're 0:01:56.400 --> 0:01:59.320 talking today about the smart grid, right, the smart and 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:01.680 this this terms gets thrown around a lot, and it's 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:04.000 it is it is complicated, Like you can't just you 0:02:04.000 --> 0:02:07.520 can't just go to the you know, nobody can realistically say, hey, 0:02:07.600 --> 0:02:09.600 when are we getting smart grids around here, or you know, 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:11.920 go to the storm, buy me some smart grids. You know. 0:02:11.960 --> 0:02:15.920 It's it's a little more complicated than that. Um. Like 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:18.520 the analogy that keeps coming to my mind is like 0:02:18.600 --> 0:02:22.400 think of the Internet, all right. It encompasses data, hardware, 0:02:22.480 --> 0:02:27.480 software users, um, you know, massive companies, distributors. It's a system, 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:31.320 right right. Power is much the same way, all right. 0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:33.959 The grid is the is a manner by which power 0:02:34.160 --> 0:02:38.920 is produced, delivered, consumed and accounted for. And if you 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:43.639 follow this fall, it's like this change all right. On 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:46.960 one end we have generation of power, power plants, etcetera. 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:50.919 And on the far end we have we have Xbox 0:02:50.960 --> 0:02:55.240 three sixties and Orange Expresso machines. And then we have 0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:59.120 several different links in between. These links are right again, 0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:02.920 generations of one than transmission. Then you have your substation 0:03:03.280 --> 0:03:05.959 and this is where voltages transformed from high to low 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:10.679 or the reverse using transformers, not the robots in disguise, 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:14.280 but transformers, electoral transformers. And then you have a distribution 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:18.120 point right right distribution. And then you have your home. Yeah, 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:21.600 that last smile and the in the home and us. 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:25.480 So the smart grid in concept is about making each 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:28.840 link in this chain more efficient on an individual level 0:03:29.320 --> 0:03:33.720 and increasing communication across the grid to make it all smarter, right, 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:37.440 smarter systems and enabling smarter users. Right, because you can 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:39.040 have the smart system in the world, but of course 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:40.720 we need to know how to use it in the 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:43.400 best way possible, the most efficient way possible. Right, And 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:45.280 that's why it's so complete. We're talking about upgrading and 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:48.600 any any huge system, you know, like I said, the 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:51.760 largest machine in the world, right, and with why why 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:54.160 should you care about this? Because it ultimately breaks down 0:03:54.200 --> 0:03:57.480 to lower energy bills of course, um, a better carbon footprint, 0:03:57.520 --> 0:04:00.720 and smarter, more informed energy usage. Yeah. And if you 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:03.160 want to get off fossil fuels, you know, for what 0:04:03.440 --> 0:04:06.200 you know, whether you're talking about political for political reasons 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:10.280 or environmental reasons or cost reasons, yeah, etcetera. Then then this, 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:13.320 in many people's eyes, is the bridge to that from 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:16.839 the you know, from an oil based world to purely 0:04:16.880 --> 0:04:20.360 electrical world. Right, So let's get smart in our house. Yeah, 0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:21.960 around the house. There are a number of things that 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:24.640 make make up a you know, smart grid just around 0:04:24.680 --> 0:04:27.279 the house. And I got some pretty basic ones like 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:30.760 motion detectors. Yeah, Like, hey, I'm not in my if 0:04:30.839 --> 0:04:32.160 I'm not in the study and I don't want the 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:33.520 lights on in the study, you have it set up 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:36.360 to motion detectors, you know, you know this whole discussion 0:04:36.680 --> 0:04:39.600 on smart good technology did lead me to wonder whether 0:04:39.760 --> 0:04:43.719 someday we could get to um motion detected air conditioning. 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:46.960 I don't know, it sounds like an awesome idea. The 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:50.480 another big one and we go into this center house 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:54.760 stuff works article about Vampire power. UM is an article 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:56.520 which you read, yes I did. I had to fight 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:58.719 to get it called vampire power, though you did. Was 0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:01.440 the alternatives they wanted to you phantom load, which is 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:06.239 the term for it, which when here, Yeah, my wife 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:08.440 thinks that that phantom load sounds like if you go 0:05:08.520 --> 0:05:11.200 to like change of baby's diaper and it's empty, then 0:05:11.279 --> 0:05:16.599 it's phantom load. It's pretty funny. But but okay, so um, yeah, 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:18.880 you have these smart power strips. For instance, there's a 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:22.080 massive you can get master slave strips alright with Sons 0:05:22.080 --> 0:05:25.359 and King. Yeah, it's uh basically the ideas you have 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:29.280 like one dedicated like master plug on this power strip 0:05:29.600 --> 0:05:31.800 and then you have slave plug ins. The idea of 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:36.760 being like take your entertainment system, um say that, say 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:39.760 like you have like your your video game console, you 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:43.040 have your DVD player, your sound system, you know whatever. 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:46.479 You have several different machines there and they all depend 0:05:46.480 --> 0:05:48.159 on the TV. Like, you're not going to be using 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:50.640 your Xbox without the TV on, So you plug the 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:53.440 TV into the master slot and then everything else goes 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:59.000 into the slave slots. So unless the master um devices on, 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:02.320 there's not be any power available to the slave slots. 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:05.120 And the whole reason is vampire power is the amount 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:10.000 of energy that those those different machines drain even if 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:13.520 they're on, even if they're off that plugged in. Yeah, 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:15.720 like that little red dot blanken at you on your 0:06:15.720 --> 0:06:19.760 device even though it's off. Vampire power and any of 0:06:19.760 --> 0:06:23.600 stuff like Energy Star appliances. You know, for me, the 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:26.599 the washer, dryer, the front loader, that's good stuff. I mean, 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:29.839 but the Energy Star covers lots of appliances. And then 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:33.520 smart meters. We trapped from common sense too, you know. 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:36.760 I mean it's like, do I have two refrigerators when 0:06:36.880 --> 0:06:39.000 I only need one? You know, just kind of common 0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:41.599 sense things like that. So I have to mention, um, sorry, 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:44.480 mom and Dad that we h my parents are really 0:06:44.480 --> 0:06:47.200 big into having two refrigerators and there are two people, 0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:49.760 and so we went and it was a little surprised 0:06:49.760 --> 0:06:51.520 and like, oh, well, we just turned on the second 0:06:51.600 --> 0:06:54.159 fridge out in the garage and it was really nice. 0:06:54.200 --> 0:06:57.279 I mean, they're you know, cokes and various other beverages 0:06:57.360 --> 0:07:00.280 that I'd like to consume um in the ridge. But 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:02.880 I was like, why why do they have to fridgerators fronting? 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:04.720 Why don't they just stick the extra beverages on the 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:07.200 pantry floor or something like that. It was kind of 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:09.080 an odd system, but you never know when you're gonna 0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:11.480 want to sit down and drink twenty four Coca Cola's 0:07:11.520 --> 0:07:14.160 in fast secession, you know. I think there's also some 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:16.880 Coarenta light in there. But in their defense, my husband 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:19.520 very very very very much once to get a deep freeze. 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:22.240 Mm hm. So I don't know a lot of people 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:25.720 are on this too fridge kick. Interesting, Yeah, so common 0:07:25.760 --> 0:07:28.840 sense maybe don't have that second fridge if you if 0:07:28.880 --> 0:07:30.760 you want to get down with the smart good technology. 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:33.600 But but like I said, the other big one is 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:35.920 the smart meter, and this is the one that gets 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:39.520 a lot more play of late. This sounds really cool. Yeah. 0:07:39.520 --> 0:07:42.840 Smart meters is just basically physical meters, you know, like 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:45.560 on the wall in your house that allow for two 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:50.160 way communication between you, um, your home and in the 0:07:50.200 --> 0:07:53.160 wide area network. All right, So how much power are 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:55.840 you using? How much is available? You know what the 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:58.720 radio is. It's like you know, the utilities, the utility 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:00.560 company is able to see how much power hour is 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:02.720 required on the local level, and you're able to see 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:05.040 like how much am I using right now? Ideally you'd 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:07.400 be able to look at a smart meter and see 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:11.520 like what's your what's your power usage now versus what 0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:14.960 it was exactly one week ago? Right right? That's pretty cool, Yeah, 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:17.240 because that's one of the big things. It's like being 0:08:17.280 --> 0:08:20.840 able to tell until you know what you're using, you know, 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:25.000 and changing it right in modified behavior or not modified behavior, 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:28.760 depending on and you know what your power usage is showing. 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:32.520 So are these things out, Yeah, they've been, uh, they've 0:08:32.520 --> 0:08:35.920 been using them in different locations and actually UM like 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:40.520 commercially they've been available like for commercial UM buildings, UM 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:43.120 in various stages for a while. Like for instance, I 0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:47.200 recently toured the the Woodward Art Center here in Atlanta 0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:50.480 for an article about their their various green innovations, including 0:08:50.520 --> 0:08:54.079 a green roof and UM they have this really cool 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:57.040 display out front, like on a touch screen where like 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:00.400 visitors and this is also available online UM where you 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:02.680 can like you can actually see their real time energy usage. 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:04.800 All right. So so that's that kind of thing has 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:07.600 been around for a little while, and uh an example 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:11.679 of of people rolling it out on a more local level. Um, 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:14.679 it's I think they have these things in California and 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:17.920 in Texas. Right, six thousand apartments in Oklahoma City. We're 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:22.079 giving given smart meters and smart thermostats and gave tenants, 0:09:22.240 --> 0:09:24.079 you know, an idea of how much power they're consuming 0:09:24.080 --> 0:09:27.040 and how they were spending. And apparently that went really well. 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:31.200 So another big thing that smart meters could enable is 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:34.240 something called a time of use pricing. Yeah, this is 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:36.960 pretty cool. Right. So think about your electricity bill and 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:39.400 however much it runs, and it's just this lump sum, right, 0:09:39.720 --> 0:09:43.280 but think about whether, um, that energy bill, that electricity 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:47.600 bill was broken out according to different rates of the day. So, um, 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:50.560 when there's a huge demand for energy in the middle 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:52.400 of the day, when everybody's at work and using their 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:55.360 laptops or doing whatever it is they're doing, maybe you 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:58.800 have a higher price. Um. And then at night, when 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:01.920 it's cooler and energy you demand has uh dropped off 0:10:01.960 --> 0:10:04.400 a little, then your through rate might be lower. Right. 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:07.000 And it turned into gret Deory. It could almost be 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:09.000 like playing the stock market. You know, it's like, what's 0:10:09.040 --> 0:10:12.160 the energy price right now? Should I should I watch 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:15.400 all my children, you know, or should I just go 0:10:15.520 --> 0:10:17.640 play with my actual children in the art or something. 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:21.240 Because because of the cost of electricity right, so, we 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:26.080 could redefine how and when energy is consumed I UM. 0:10:26.120 --> 0:10:29.280 I talked to UM a member of Green Tech Media 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:32.679 really David Leeds, author of the Smart Grid in two 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:35.679 thousand ten, which is a fabulous free online source if 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:37.360 you if you're out there and you're thinking, I really 0:10:37.400 --> 0:10:39.839 would like a hundred and thirty six pages of really 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:43.440 good info about smart grid twenty minutes Robert Allison are 0:10:43.440 --> 0:10:45.560 giving me, I want the whole king computer. Well this 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:47.120 is this is they're aimed at. We're aimed at totally 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:49.400 different audiences here. But yeah, this isn't enough, and you 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:53.040 want some really hardcore data. I highly recommend Green Tech 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:55.800 Media for that. But but anyway, I was talking to 0:10:55.840 --> 0:10:58.440 him and he pointed out that one of the crucial 0:10:58.960 --> 0:11:01.760 things this is stumbling block to some of this technology 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:05.599 is you need regulatory reform to encourage consumer involvement in 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:09.160 smart rid by eliminating single fixed retail rate for most 0:11:09.160 --> 0:11:12.439 electrical consumption. All right, So what's the problem with this, Well, 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:14.480 that's because you're just flowing up paying a flat fee. 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:16.640 You know, it wouldn't be an issue of like, what's 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:19.680 what's electricity price? Right now? That you know, we would 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:22.720 want to bring in time of use rates all right, 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:26.199 implemented in your smart smart meter on your inner home 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:29.400 energy management system. Right, so your gut instinct is, oh, no, 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:31.719 my my electricity bill is going to be higher, right, 0:11:31.800 --> 0:11:33.800 I mean that would be mine. Well, that's I mean, 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:36.200 that's one of the ongoing sort of concerns, and that 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:39.720 has to do with the with actually, uh, implementing that. 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:41.600 You know, a lot of the smart grid technologies. You 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:42.600 have to do it in a way so that you 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:46.560 don't just you know, spiked the cost of electricity. But 0:11:46.840 --> 0:11:48.880 but that's that's kind of a whole another issue that 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:52.280 people are dealing with, right, and then businesses, um, you 0:11:52.320 --> 0:11:54.000 have to wonder how this would affect them. Would they 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:57.000 be psyched about point of views I'm sorry, time of 0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:01.240 use pressing or or or not? I mean, would they 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:03.080 have room to maneuver, would they have room to really 0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:06.960 change their behavior? I mean, would it be something like, um, well, gee, 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:09.120 you know, we're using a lot of energy and there's 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:12.200 a real heat wave of coming coming through, and you know, 0:12:12.440 --> 0:12:15.559 maybe we should implement a teleworking policy exactly like it's 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:18.199 getting like due to the heat and the cost of electricity, 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:22.040 it's like more expensive to keep the office staffed, uh, 0:12:22.320 --> 0:12:24.400 you know in certain hours of the day. So yeah, 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:26.640 let them. Maybe that solution is letting them work at home. 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:30.720 Maybe the solution is having a cista, letting us all 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:33.840 after lunch, come back around twilight when it's cooled off 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:36.480 a little bit, more shorts all the time. We already 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:39.000 have shorts Friday. You do know that, right, are you 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:40.599 going to bust out the shorts Friday? Come on, I 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:42.680 don't really wear shorts and lasts him at the beach? 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:45.680 Yeah yeah, right, okay, So yeah, there are a number 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:48.280 of different different things I think that you know, a 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:49.679 company could do. And that's the thing they would have 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:51.720 the freedom to sort of play with it. And who knows, 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:55.000 if we got to the point where we had had 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:57.880 you know that the time of use pricing available, maybe 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:00.440 flat fee stuff would still be available for people who 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:02.200 could you know do that And it's kind of like 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:05.040 are you paying paying by the download for something? Are 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:07.280 you paying like a flat fee for unlimited downloads kind 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:08.400 of a deal? I don't know, you know, I'm just 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:12.520 speculating on different ways that well gas companies offer floating rates, 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:14.920 I think as opposed to fixed price plans like you 0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:16.959 can lock in your price for you know, a period 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:20.240 of twelve months. But so maybe maybe they could do 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:22.520 something similar. I have to wonder how the power companies 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:25.560 feel about this, because if we're all getting smarter about 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:28.439 the way we're using power, then doesn't that mean we're 0:13:28.520 --> 0:13:30.920 using less and doesn't that mean that they're you're not 0:13:30.920 --> 0:13:33.520 going to get as much money from us. Yeah, that's 0:13:33.559 --> 0:13:36.360 I mean, that's I think in places that's kind of concern. 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:40.640 I think the example that that Leads used was was 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:43.959 it's kind of like convincing Starbucks to make it their 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:49.360 business to sell less coffee to the consumer, so certainly 0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:52.720 on people's radar. Well, and another thing that that smart 0:13:52.760 --> 0:13:56.320 meters would allow us this thing called demand response, which 0:13:56.320 --> 0:14:00.720 is a pretty cool idea, and this is where utilities would, uh, 0:14:00.960 --> 0:14:04.840 we'd give an incentive to customers to reduce their consumption 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:08.840 at critical peak times. All right, So It's like we're 0:14:08.880 --> 0:14:10.800 talking about like an hour you know, during the summer 0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:15.160 day when it's like where electricity is just really being pumped. Right, 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:18.040 So certain people will have like pre agreed on their 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:20.840 contract that if they cut down their usage during those hours, 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:25.400 they'll get an incentive check. So you know, yeah, so 0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:28.520 moving out of the home for a little bit, we're 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:30.080 gonna come back around to the home in the end. 0:14:30.520 --> 0:14:32.520 But you move back up the chain and you hit 0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:38.080 the distribution section, all right, and and and we're gonna 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:40.320 we're gonna breeze through some of these these middle areas 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:45.600 a little a little faster. But like with the the distribution, 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:48.920 it's like if you has his tying into smart grids, right, 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:51.160 and it's it's like the smart grid stuff in your house. 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:53.760 It kind of like flows back up the channel. Like 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:56.440 the more you know about what's being done on the 0:14:56.440 --> 0:15:01.200 then consumer end, the smarter each link in chain going 0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:03.680 all the way back to production can be. Right. So 0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:06.400 you were talking about giving incentives to customers to not 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:10.280 use to not stuck up power at peak demands, Well, 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:12.760 how is that going to help a distribution point because 0:15:13.200 --> 0:15:16.640 maybe they will not have as many outages going on. Yeah, 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:18.920 it's kind of like we were talking. We kept talking 0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:21.360 about hamburgers when we're going over this before because it's 0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:24.880 like because it's lunch time. Yeah, but it's like, you know, 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:27.040 it's like imagine you have a table and there and 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:30.840 they're being sent four hamburgers. Whether they're gonna eat it, 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:33.560 you know, is a is a different, different issue. But 0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:35.760 there's something sent four hamburgs, but maybe they only need three. 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:38.320 Smart grid is like knowing that they only need three 0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:43.720 hamburgers at this time, so you don't send five. Yeah, 0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:45.960 we're getting smart about our hamburgers and our power, using 0:15:46.040 --> 0:15:49.160 more Hamburger analogies to come. So so yeah, the distribution 0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:53.880 area involves that also involves something called phase or management units, 0:15:53.920 --> 0:15:56.160 which is just allows us to keep more precise tabs 0:15:56.160 --> 0:15:58.960 on electrical usage in the smart grid and take a 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:02.280 lot of the guesswork again and out of supplying it. Alright, 0:16:02.320 --> 0:16:04.760 so let's move on up to the substation. Yeah, this 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:09.200 again is where transformers convert high to low voltage or 0:16:09.240 --> 0:16:12.960 the reverse. And an example of a smart gride optimization 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:16.640 at this point would be monitoring and correcting the voltage 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:20.000 and the transformers. All right, we're talking really basically real 0:16:20.040 --> 0:16:24.840 time ability to monitor and tweak millions of transformers and 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:29.000 reduce wasted power and improve in efficiency. So again, it's 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:31.840 that it's the smart the smart meter in the home, 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:35.200 like all that information, like going back up the chain. Yeah, 0:16:35.240 --> 0:16:37.280 it's pretty cool. The system would detect a higher low 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:40.720 voltage level of reading um that's exceeding the normal threshold, 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:43.560 and it could automatically send this corrective action to adjust 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:47.160 the voltage back to normal. Yeah, and it and apparently 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:48.400 in a lot a lot of cases you would have 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:50.960 people who would in the past would be underjuiced, you know, 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:52.800 it wouldn't be getting enough power, but more often than 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:56.920 not overjuiced. So I think you're overjuiced on regular basis, dude. Yea, 0:16:58.120 --> 0:16:59.880 you know there's a lot of free coffee around here 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:02.680 that up. But but but anyway, Yeah, it's it's like 0:17:02.720 --> 0:17:04.800 be down to the hamburgers again. It's like preventing a 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:07.159 situation when we're sending five hamburgers to a table that 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:09.720 only needs three. Yeah. I thought this was really interesting 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:12.240 and I'm glad you brought it up because historically the 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:15.119 utility companies have had little control beyond the substation, and 0:17:15.119 --> 0:17:18.120 that's where we're at right now in the chain, uh 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:22.640 talking about so North American utility is being highly riscoversed. 0:17:22.680 --> 0:17:25.400 Have never really wanted to admit to problems of low 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:29.960 voltage and supplying the voltage to customers that can regularly occur, 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:33.760 and so the challenge of optimizing the energy going to 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:37.840 this huge network from the substation meant that, yeah, some 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:40.000 consumers were going to have to live with this low 0:17:40.040 --> 0:17:43.679 subpart voltage. All right, Now we're going to roll up 0:17:43.720 --> 0:17:46.879 another link on the chain back towards power generation, this 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:49.680 time transmission, and we're not going to spend much time 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:52.400 on this one either. This one is basically we can 0:17:52.520 --> 0:17:56.359 start using super conducting cables to reduce line loss, so 0:17:56.480 --> 0:17:59.560 less electricity is lost in transit on the lines, and 0:17:59.680 --> 0:18:02.639 your three to five times and more power. Yeah, it 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:05.080 sounds pretty smart to me. And so now we roll 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:08.080 back one more and now we're at the generation level. Yeah, 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:10.560 the point of generation, whether whether it's the coal plants 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:12.960 and the nuclear power plants or whatever we're talking about. 0:18:13.240 --> 0:18:15.879 And sadly, we still are talking a lot about coal 0:18:16.000 --> 0:18:18.560 and more more and more though natural gas right now, 0:18:18.600 --> 0:18:21.879 and even if alternative energy like wasn't in the picture. 0:18:22.840 --> 0:18:25.560 At the very least, it would be a situation where 0:18:25.760 --> 0:18:28.640 we wouldn't be rolling out more and more like coal 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:32.000 power plants, more and more natural gas to solve a problem, 0:18:32.080 --> 0:18:36.960 you know, uh bye bye. By making everything on the 0:18:36.960 --> 0:18:39.119 rest of the chain smarter, we're not having to just 0:18:39.200 --> 0:18:44.080 create extra energy to account for shortfalls, right I started 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:46.720 think of it. Um. Here in Atlanta, we like to 0:18:46.760 --> 0:18:51.480 build highways, right yes, And instead of building um, you know, 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:55.480 train system or more efficient highways, usually we just add 0:18:55.480 --> 0:18:58.879 a lane to the highway, right yeah, exactly, that's the 0:18:58.920 --> 0:19:03.040 perfect perfect picture to paint. Yeah, it's instead of adding 0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:05.800 just more and more lanes, so you have this just ridiculous, 0:19:05.880 --> 0:19:09.840 ungodly um. You know, a thick road that scares my 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:12.720 mother to death. You would actually you know, it's like, actually, 0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:15.600 let's streamline the system. Let's let's make the system smarter, 0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:18.840 not um, just more out of control and just you know, 0:19:18.960 --> 0:19:26.280 increase the base. Um. But the the the integration of 0:19:26.480 --> 0:19:29.679 renewables and alternative energy sources is a part of the 0:19:29.720 --> 0:19:32.240 smart grid and part of the plans for a smart 0:19:32.240 --> 0:19:34.879 grid future. UM. One of the problems, though, is you 0:19:35.640 --> 0:19:39.080 can't necessarily count on some of these uh, these renewable 0:19:39.160 --> 0:19:42.280 energies as as well, like take wind energy. Right, so 0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:44.840 you mentioned the Great Texas Window of two thousand eight 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:48.720 where wind energy drops substantially in just three hours, and 0:19:49.480 --> 0:19:52.960 the amount that was lost was comparable to basically losing 0:19:52.960 --> 0:19:56.359 a large sized conventional power plant um in the system. 0:19:56.400 --> 0:19:59.600 Operators that were unfortunately working that day, they had to 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:02.800 resort your emergency demand response, which meant they were cretailing 0:20:02.840 --> 0:20:06.360 power to interruptable customers in order to avoid a blackout. Yeah, 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:09.320 and it's it's the weather, yes, And the weather is 0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:12.640 is basically not a predictable thing. I mean, we can 0:20:12.680 --> 0:20:16.520 forecast it to a limited degree within a very limited timeframe, 0:20:16.640 --> 0:20:20.800 and if you can't really book for energy as much 0:20:20.840 --> 0:20:23.840 on it. So that's just the reality of that. Now 0:20:24.920 --> 0:20:27.960 that this this is where a storage issue comes into play. 0:20:28.160 --> 0:20:30.720 Like one of the big things about electricity is that 0:20:30.800 --> 0:20:33.760 for the most part, um, we have to use it 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:37.360 as soon as we make it. Um. To go back 0:20:37.400 --> 0:20:40.080 to the hamburgers, It's like, imagine if there was no 0:20:40.160 --> 0:20:43.280 freezer in the back with extra hamburgers. All the hamburgers 0:20:43.280 --> 0:20:46.320 are on the grill, you know, and we're cooking them 0:20:46.359 --> 0:20:48.439 and we're just gonna have to eat them, and if 0:20:48.480 --> 0:20:52.000 we don't use them, we're gonna waste them. And you know, 0:20:52.040 --> 0:20:55.000 it's it's it's it's that kind of situation. And and sadly, 0:20:55.040 --> 0:20:58.800