Whois & Analysis for utilitydive.com

A smart grid is an electrical grid which includes a variety of operational and energy measures including smart meters, smart appliances, renewable energy resources, and energy efficient resources.

Electronic power conditioning and control of the production and distribution of electricity are important aspects of the smart grid.

Demand response is a change in the power consumption of an electric utility customer to better match the demand for power with the supply.

Electric energy can not be easily stored, so utilities have traditionally matched demand and supply by throttling the production rate of their power plants, taking generating units on or off line, or importing power from other utilities.

There are limits to what can be achieved on the supply side, because some generating units can take a long time to come up to full power, some units may be very expensive to operate, and demand can at times be greater than the capacity of all the available power plants put together.

Demand response seeks to adjust the demand for power instead of adjusting the supply.

Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources, which are naturally replenished on a human timescale, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat.

Renewable energy often provides energy in four important areas: electricity generation, air and water heating/cooling, transportation, and rural (off-grid) energy services.

Electric power transmission is the bulk movement of electrical energy from a generating site, such as a power plant, to an electrical substation.

The interconnected lines which facilitate this movement are known as a transmission network.

This is distinct from the local wiring between high-voltage substations and customers, which is typically referred to as electric power distribution.

The combined transmission and distribution network is known as the "power grid" in North America, or just "the grid".

In the United Kingdom, the network is known as the "National Grid".

Electric power distribution is the final stage in the delivery of electric power; it carries electricity from the transmission system to individual consumers.

Distribution substations connect to the transmission system and lower the transmission voltage to medium voltage ranging between 2 kV and 35 kV with the use of transformers.

Primary distribution lines carry this medium voltage power to distribution transformers located near the customer's premises.

Distribution transformers again lower the voltage to the utilization voltage of household appliances and typically feed several customers through secondary distribution lines at this voltage.

Commercial and residential customers are connected to the secondary distribution lines through service drops.

Customers demanding a much larger amount of power may be connected directly to the primary distribution level or the subtransmission level.