Boulder has made moves to befome the first “SmartGridCity” (CU Independent illustration/Adam Milner)
The city of Boulder is the first-ever “SmartGridCity” by Xcel Energy and is already seeing many innovative changes, according to the SmartGrid Web site.
The Web site explains how these innovative changes will create for Boulder a power system that “combines traditional and cutting-edge technology to create a much-improved electric grid.”
“This is essentially taking the power grid out of the days when it’s been in the status quo and moving it to a whole new level of technology,” said Tom Henley, spokesperson for Xcel Energy.
“A basic power grid begins with the burning of fossil fuel, running the fuel through a generator to make electricity, sending that electricity through transmission lines down to what’s called a substation,” Henley said. “That substation is more located in the various neighborhoods and it’s taken through the smaller wires directly to people’s homes.” Substations need to be carefully maintained to ensure that customers receive reliable, safe power to homes and buildings. One important part of this maintenance is substation painting with the help of commercial painting contractors.
This process is also true of the Boulder power grid, but Xcel energy has added a layer of “functional intelligence” to the power grid that allows for much more than just the transmission of electricity from a source to a residence, according to the “SmartGridCity” Web site.
One such residence that has embraced the SmartGrid technology is the home of CU Chancellor Phil DiStefano and his wife.
“It is a SmartHouse, we have seven others like it, but it happens to be the deluxe model,” Henley said. “It has capabilities for solar power, a back-up battery, and more.”
Henley said the process of becoming the SmartGridCity involved innumerable technological changes along the route through which electricity is passed, including sensors along power lines and generators.
An example given on the SmartGridCity Web site is of freezing temperatures. Should the outside temperature drop significantly, new sensors on power lines around Boulder can signal to the grid that the lines could potentially freeze and the grid will increase the amount of energy through that power line, de-icing it and avoiding further problems.
Henley said the key difference between a traditional power grid and the new technology that has been implemented into Boulder’s power grid is the visibility it allows Xcel.
“The most substantial difference is that we can see now and have visibility now into the power grid and how it’s functioning, where in the past we didn’t have that visibility, it was all reactionary,” Henley said.
He also explained how the SmartGrid is a more reliable system because of the increase of digital communication between the power grid and specific areas around Boulder.
“Now in Boulder with the smart technology that we have in place and the communications infrastructure we can tell immediately when somebody’s out of power, we can tell where it is and what the cause is,” Henley said.
The SmartGrid technology is also functioning on a more individual residential level, according to the SmartGridCity Web site.
Over the next few years, Xcel will be working with residences throughout Boulder to institute in-home energy management devices, such as SmartMeters, which are equipped digital meters that offer two-way communication between an individual residence and Xcel, according to the Web site.
Xcel officials said they hope that by electing the chancellor’s home for SmartGrid technology, the public will take notice about the program’s potential, Henley said.
“Essentially it was chosen because of the visibility of the home,” Henley said. “We’re trying to get the word out about upgrading the existing grid and seemed like a natural marriage, so to speak.”
Some students said they think the new technology in the chancellor’s home will give the project more widespread attention.
“It’s cool that it’s the chancellor’s house,” said Kristy Guzman, a 22-year-old senior sociology major. “If they want to get it shown, you might as well put it on campus.”
So far Xcel has only incorporated SmartGrid technology into select residences, Henley said.
“We have what we call the Friends and Family Program, where we implemented some of the grid point technologies and they’ve been instituting tests for the last year and half,” Henley said. “That’s only in homes, including the University of Colorado’s chancellor’s home.”
Henley said about 400 residences that are a part of the Friends and Family Program have seen technological changes that will compliment the SmartGrid technology, and after further approval from the Power Utilities Commission, public participation may reach 1,100 residences.
The next step for Xcel and the city of Boulder is to gauge the public’s reaction to the changes.
“Xcel energy has installed the infrastructure from their substations all the way to SmartMeters in resident’s homes, which we are still in the process of,” said Kara Mertz, the local environmental action division manager for the city of Boulder. “The next steps are to beef up the customer experience end of SmartGrid.”
Betsey Yadon, an 18-year-old freshman history major, said she thinks the program is a step in the right direction and ought to resonate well CU’s student body.
“I think it’s a nice stepping stone, a point to jump off from to start doing the program with others,” Yadon said. “A lot of us are more environmentally conscious than previous generations and I think it would be something that would interest a lot of people.”
Mertz said that the SmartGrid technology has the potential to even be taken globally.
“The technology is in between here and the future, there will be a combination of central power and distributed power,” Mertz said. “Who knows what the real technology will be, that’s what they’re testing now. I think pretty much everyone around the globe thinks this is the direction that we are heading.”
To learn more about the SmartGrid technology or to see if your home qualifies for the pilot program, check out the SmartGridCity Web site.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Sarah Simmons at Sarah.e.simmons@colorado.edu.
