Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Broadband and the Smart Electrical Grid

November 30, 2009

The FCC is exploring how broadband technologies can help the nation become more energy independent and efficient and be a key factor in the evolution to a smart electrical grid. During a field hearing Monday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and others discussed the role of broadband and the agency's development of a national broadband plan in the nation's quest for energy efficiency and independence.

Genachowski said that one of the goals that the FCC was charged with examining in crafting a national broadband plan was how broadband technologies can advance national purposes including specifically energy independence and efficiency. "The smart grid is something we will hear a lot about," Genachowski said. "Broadband and the smart grid are first cousins." Markey, chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, noted that our current electrical grid works hard but not smartly. "The smart grid is nothing more than an electricity Internet," Markey said. He added that broadband technologies will allow renewable energy and other sources of electricity to be managed more effectively and efficiently.

But Jerrold Grochow, a research affiliate with MIT's Energy Initiative and a retired vice president of information services and technology at MIT, warned about the need to take cybersecurity and privacy into consideration as the nation evolves to a smart grid. He said cybersecurity is not a new concern when it comes to the electrical grid, but he said while concerns continue to mount the solutions remain in the future. Grochow added that while a smart grid will require that information be sent to users and providers about the flow of electricity, it also provides opportunities for "those who have malicious interests."

Join the Discussion

The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.

Comments powered by Disqus

 

Archives

Monthly Archives

Categories

Recent Posts

Recent Comments


Contributors

Juliana Gruenwald

Tech Writer

E-Mail: jgruenwald@nationaljournal.com.


Juliana Gruenwald has been covering tech and telecom issues for more than a decade for National Journal, Interactive Week, BNA and Congressional Quarterly. This is her second stint with National Journal. She was recruited by NJ in 1998 to help launch its first tech policy publication, Technology Daily. She left in 2000 to cover international tech and telecom issues for Ziff Davis Media's Interactive Week magazine. She started her career at United Press International as the wire service's first Helen Thomas Intern. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota. A Minneapolis native, she misses the lakes but not the cold.


Josh Smith

Tech Reporter

E-Mail: joshsmith@nationaljournal.com.


Josh Smith covers technology policy as a staff reporter for National Journal. He previously interned at National Journal Daily, a Senate press office, and the Deseret News in Salt Lake City where he covered the state legislature, courts, and crime. In 2009 he graduated with honors from Southern Utah University after managing an award-winning student newspaper as editor-in-chief. Josh has received state, regional and national awards for his political and policy reporting, including first place in CapitolBeat’s 2009 Best of Statehouse Reporting college competition. A native of drop-dead-gorgeous Utah, Josh lives in Virginia with his wife, Amber.