Smart Power Anniversary Edition: Climate Change, the Smart Grid, and the Future of Electric Utilities

by Peter Fox-Penner

Few industries in the U.S. are as stuck in the past as our utilities are. In the face of growing challenges from climate change and the need for energy security, a system and a business model that each took more than a century to evolve must now be extensively retooled in the span of a few decades. Despite the need, many of the technologies and institutions needed are still being designed or tested. It is like rebuilding our entire airplane fleet, along with our runways and air traffic control system, while the planes are all up in the air filled with passengers.
In this accessible and insightful book, Peter Fox-Penner considers how utilities interact with customers and how the Smart Grid could revolutionize their relationship. Turning to the supply side, he considers the costs of, and tradeoffs between, large-scale power sources such as coal plants and small-scale power sources close to customers. Finally, he looks at how utilities can respond to all of these challenges and remain viable, while financing hundreds of billions of dollars of investment without much of an increase in sales.
Upon publication, Smart Power was praised as an instant classic on the future of energy utilities. This Anniversary Edition includes up-to-date assessments of the industry by such leading energy experts as Daniel Estes and Jim Rogers, as well as a new afterword from the author. Anyone who is interested in our energy future will appreciate the clear explanations and the in-depth analysis it offers.

Genres: Nonfiction, Environment, Business, Engineering, Sustainability

376 pages, Paperback

First published April 5, 2010

About the author

Dr. Peter Fox-Penner, principal and chairman emeritus, specializes in economic, regulatory, and strategic issues in network industries. His practice centers on energy and environmental policies and electric regulatory planning and competition issues. He is also experienced in the natural gas, communications, transportation, and environmental industries and is a frequent expert witness on these issues.

He is a frequent speaker on energy topics and the author of numerous published articles and books, including the highly acclaimed Electric Utility Restructuring: A Guide to the Competitive Era and his new book from Island Press, Smart Power: Climate Change, the Smart Grid, and the Future of Electric Utilities.

In Smart Power, Dr. Fox-Penner provides an in-depth look at the policy and business challenges electric utilities face due to the combined impacts of climate change, the smart grid, and energy efficiency policies. Drawing upon his expertise as a utility consultant, Dr. Fox-Penner examines potential sustainable business models and reviews the current prospects for long-term power generation alternatives."

Reviews

[Rohan Dalvi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deep overview of the electric utilities industry. It was written in 2010, so some of the statistics surrounding the power mix are a bit dated. However, I think the key themes surrounding the challenges of transitioning the grid to low-carbon continue to apply. For example, the book does a good job of describing the tension between centralized generation like wind / solar farms (with its $/kwh advantages) and decentralized resources (with its benefits around minimal need for T&D buildout). I also learned a lot from its very holistic description of what the smart grid really means, as a collection of synergistic technologies (e.g., demand response) and business practices (e.g. variable pricing schedules). Of course, there were tons of details beyond those mentioned above – this book was almost encyclopedic – but the above sections really stood out to me. Disclaimer - I only read the first two sections out of three, as the last seemed a bit too in-the-weeds, but I will probably return to the last one at some point eventually.

[Katie Hirthler]

A lot of the structure and ideas is interesting, but at this point so out of date. (written 12 years ago)

Taught me a TON about what I don't know and what makes it all so complicated, and took a small step to filling the gaps, but I ended up skimming a lot of it since he was making 12 year old predictions.

[Melek]

I will admit that I'm not the most attentive reader when it comes to book blurbs, and it has been a while since I requested this book on NetGalley, so when I started this today without checking the subject again, I expected it to be about how to save power to get a grip on climate change and how to control the use of electricity better in your life. You could say I was more than a little puzzled when I saw it started with a chapter named The First Electricity Revolution.

While the book does have a goal of helping you understand the use of electricity better, it does this in a very complicated way. Not that I expected a 376-page book to be a simple bus read, but still, it wouldn't be some bad if it was made for the general reader as well as a relatively deep reference book. It's not too hard to understand, but at parts, it makes you want to give up on reading and reach for a cheesy romance to rest a little.

It is too good to get a 3/5, but I can't bring myself to give it a 5/5 o even a 4/5, so I'll leave it unrated.

[Nikhil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy and Quick read.... if you are teaching a class about it :D

[Mark Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

the book is so well organized that those who are not familiar with the power industry can understand where it was, where it is now, and where it is going. This naturally leads to the discussion of smart grid and how it relates to the new challenges in the power industry. I particularly liked the way it explained smart grid in the context of smart power.

[Lindsey Maddox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for work, but found it really fascinating. Had no idea of the complexity in the utility industry. Didn't find it terribly technical either, but some understanding of business management / economics helps you grasp the motivations and business models.

[Aldo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book if you want to learn about smarts grids, even it was written almost 10 years ago, the topics covered in the book are the more relevant now

[Michael Burnam-Fink · Rating 4 out of 5]

When was the last time you thought about electricity, where it comes from, and who pays for it? Peter Fox-Penner takes on a lively and knowledgeable tour of our incredibly baroque electrical grid, from the vertically integrated major generators to deregulation of the 1990s. Essentially, the electrical system is based on an illusion of an effect market, carefully maintained with endless red tape. The "spot price" of electricity swings wildly from one day to the next, and even hour to hour as utilities balance demand from millions of appliances with generation from thousands of plants. Yet, even as the market price of electricity varies, consumers pay the same amount, whether it's for expensive power at 4:00 PM on a hot afternoon, or cheap power at 2:00 AM.

The Smart Grid, a combination of consumer meters that can pay for electricity at market rates, along with appliances that adjust consumption to match price, distributed generation, and high voltage lines, might save money, and the planet, but there are immense political and technological barriers in place. The power sector is entrenched, complex, and fully of traps for the unwary. Most of all, this book shows that immense resolve will be required to make a better future.

[Thomas Deetjen · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are interested in renewable energy, distributed generation, and other hot energy topics, "Smart Power" has a lot to offer you. While it doesn't spend much time discussing the merits of different energy technologies, it gives an excellent introduction to the electric utilities industry and many convincing arguments of why an understanding of the utilities industry is an important facet to your ability to participate in the clean energy debate.

"Smart Power" gives a holistic view of the electricity generation market. Chronologically, the author discusses the history, current status, and potential future trajectories of the power market. Technologically, the author explains modern generation and transmission strategies, and the future economic, regulatory, and technology scenarios that could occur. I found the book to be mostly unbiased. The author envisions a number of future scenarios, and while he does discuss his opinion about the most likely turn of events, he leaves enough uncertainty to lend credibility to other options.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot in Parts I and II of this book. Part 3 contains broad outlines of how everything could fall into place: from power generation, transmission, distribution, newly needed smart components, and public policy. There's a great emphasis on economics in this book, in particular, increasing the market efficiency of power sales by having more dynamic pricing, and restructuring market incentives for utilities to sell less power and sell more power usage efficiency. I am skeptical of a miracle technology to deliver us from our future energy needs, so I am hopeful, as the author suggests to me, that a combined policy and incentives change is the "low-hanging fruit solution" we could have implemented easily years ago.

[Raisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulously written book! I started reading Smart Power to understand the basics of the electricity system and came away with a much more sophisticated understanding than I anticipated as a neophyte in the subject matter. Context, issues, and players are presented clearly without diminishing the complex relationships amongst each other. Would highly recommend to others who are interested in learning more about how the electricity system works, its origins, and present challenges. Some projections are out of date, but the focus on addressing climate change and energy security needs remain.

Given the history and current operations, it is astonishing how reliable the grid is despite its organic growth and multitude of business models. A lot of work remains to be done!

[Pierre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fox-Penner steps through the key points in electric utility regulatory history to show just how nuanced and complex the challenge is in upgrading our electricity generation and delivery-distribution system for the decades ahead. He provides a clear set of scenarios and logical arguments in describing both the legal, institutional and technological shifts that will need to happen In order to transform our current electric utility system into one that is environmentally sustainable, resource-efficient, and reliable. Highly recommend for anyone who's career involves energy, utilities and/or climate-environment issues.

[Rishi Garg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish the author spent more time discussing the Smart Integrator Model and Energy Services Utility model - those are both innovative concepts and deserve further explanation. My concern is that the content of much of the rest of the book is the stuff of electric stakeholder process - discussed every day in those process; but also, that it takes a good year within those processes to understand the concepts described in this book.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really had no idea how the electricity came to be in the magic boxes scattered throughout my house until I read this. I now have a greater understanding and appreciation of the process and infrastructure that powers daily life. Recommend to anyone wanting a basic understanding of our system and the ways in which it is changing to be "smarter" and how we can help it do just that.

[Eric Senunas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a smart book by one of the better minds in the industry. If you want to understand what is transitioning from a staid, boring industry to the one that will shape the 21st century, this is the place to start...

[audstruck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, so I didn't actually finish this book, go figure. It is very helpful in explaining electric utilities but I think it's best as a reference book instead of a straight read through. I'll keep it on my desk at work and flip through the chapters when I need them.

[James Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative... but a little out of date. The prices for solar technology have changed dramatically since the silicon price crashed (some new plants selling at $0.05/kWH).

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book on electricity, but I can't say that I completely understood all of it. I think it would be good to use as a reference, but not really for casual reading.

[Andrew Bray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good insight into the factors at play in the electric energy grid and integrating renewables.

[Paul Byrne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great history of the grid and framework for understanding promising new technology and regulatory headwinds. Approachable but not light.

[Eduar Aguirre]

Quiero aprender sobre Smart Grid.