The McDonnell Group

 By Chris Hickman
 President Innovari Energy
 Guest Blogger

We in the utility industry live in a world where we’re constantly walking on egg shells. This is odd since the stakes around industry transformation are so high, and we feel as if we are each carrying a battleship on our shoulders while trying not to disturb the egg shells on which we tread.

Have you ever reached that point where you are just tired of the conversation? We have our own worst enemies within our industry. More than 70% of the people in this industry don't actually know how the grid really works. Less than that have actually been part of a regulatory proceeding to see the difficulty that is involved for commissions to attempt to balance the needs of all stakeholders. So now we have all of these new “smart grid” entrants pop up, fly in, and make completely uninformed statements. And then we all spend the next few months dispelling the myths of yet another uninformed individual. Why?

Mostly because as an industry we have lost our backbone.  An example, wireless meters are a health hazard. Really? Grab an EMF meter, walk by the microwave when it's on, check out the hair dryer in the morning, set it by your wireless gateway in your house, or by your laptop and then check out the meter. However, when you make the call to the commission or senator, make sure you are talking on your cell phone complaining about EMF.  But keep your head down and it won't get shot off by EMF or your boss, or the press... sssshhhh, hunker down in your hole.

Electricity is not a political chit. It is the lifeblood of everything we do and if we don't address the very real issues that exist in our grid and begin to work towards the future, we are going to pay the price. However, everyone wants a piece of the glory and no one wants any of the bad stuff. We are not going to transition our grid from analog to digital without some problems. However, the price of doing nothing is much, much greater.

Federal vs State?  More than 90% of this investment for “smart grid” is at the distribution level. It's not a federal issue and the confusion being created by over reaching is silly. Each jurisdiction is going to have to make a smart grid plan that their constituents agree with and determine they can afford. It is NOT going to be the same, even for utilities within a single state jurisdiction. Require a process to figure it out, make the plan, and then execute it. Recognize there will be problems, but everyone should band together for the greater good. Because that is the very definition of what electricity is and what it means to our society.

I was recently quoted in a piece in Transmission & Distribution World entitled utilities are not evil. Also, regulators are not stupid. And contrary to conspiracy theories by those frustrated with the slow nature of evolution in electricity, they are not in a back room somewhere together figuring out how to skewer consumers. Yes, we have bad examples and we just love making them the spotlight in our media driven snippet world. But the reality is that for the past 40 years our industry has managed to maintain its networks with three 9's of reliability. No one else compares. At the same time, if you look at inflation adjusted numbers, over half of the country is paying less for electricity than they did 20 or 30 years ago. So, with all the sarcasm I can muster in the written word, I can truly understand why everyone thinks the industry has done such a bad job and needs to be punished for it.

All stakeholders need to bury the hatchet, partner with the state regulators and make a plan for the future. Ignore the internet pundits and politicians that won't be here in two years or four years down the line. Otherwise, those of us who have made a career in the utility industry will be cleaning up the mess they leave because we are the ones who care.

Editorial Note:
To engage in open and honest dialogue on the future of the connected utility industry, join Chris Hickman and colleagues at ConnectivityWeek.  This guest blog post was derived from an original post in the Smart Grid Executive Forum, a member-only forum with over 2,500 utility thought leaders from around the world.