GridWise Forum Shows Alignment of Policy and Automation Energy Initiatives

Keywords: COMPETE Coalition, Energy Policy, Electric Markets, GridWise Global Forum, ODVA.

In a recent Insight on the Smart Grid, ARC concluded that: "What would help this market most would be a broad consensus around a few simple, elegant, and consistent policies." The GridWise Global Forum is an annual event focused on energy policy. The most significant thing to emerge from this year's Forum was just such a policy statement in the form of plea for the cultivation and broad application of electric markets.

US Energy Secretary Chu on Global Trends
The GridWise Global Forum has a marquis set of sponsors and is held in Washington so that the event can draw many of the movers and shakers in US energy policy. US Energy Secretary Steven Chu keynoted the event. Chu highlighted two major trends; the rising fraction of renewable energy and the falling cost of photovoltaics. While Denmark's huge proportion of renewable wind energy is backstopped by the European grid, Chu pointed to Portugal, Ireland and Spain as having less capacious connections to major European grids, but still able to support a large fraction of renewables. "They have figured out how to do it," said Chu. He also noted that new flexible combined-cycle plant designs and energy storage technologies will be needed in greater numbers.

Chu gave a positive spin on the falling price of photovoltaic equipment, predicting that "Within 10-15 years, solar will achieve cost parity with any fossil fuel and the grid must be able to accommodate these gains." Without uttering the word "Solyndra," Chu wryly noted that the plunge in solar market prices has caused distress in more than a few firms. Chu's ability to be dryly self-depreciating is refreshing in Washington, and just as rare among Nobel laureates. How can you dislike a cabinet secretary who makes a presentation from a Linux-driven laptop sans PowerPoint?

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