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This
is a draft guide to how you can rate how sustainably your community can
uses its electrical potential. The focus is on rating how your community
is benefiting from the confluence of 230 volt systems, "smart"
dwelling appliance and monitoring technology, broadband, the Internet
and, dwelling generation of needs eg photovoltaics, wind power,
solar based heating etc.
Useful
Terms
Community grid
– This is the local (city or borough) reticulation network. In New
Zealand the owner was traditionally the local community. Since the
Electricity Reforms of 1993 the owners are now often large
overseas-based bank corporations. It is now illegal for communities to
own both their local wiring network and its intelligence. The common
name for its intelligence is now it "retailer" division, which
reflects the commodified state of New Zealand citizens now.
Central grid
– This is the main national reticulation network. In New Zealand the
grid is operated by a corporation called TransPower.
It is nominally a State Owned Enterprise (SOE) but Wachovia Bank owns
the South Island grid and thus effectively controls much of the national
policy of how New Zealanders use their electrical potential.
Peak load.
The amount of electrical product being transferred over grids varies
with the time of day, the weather and the general needs of consumers at
any moment. The “Peak load” or
spike in demand occurs when the amount of product has to be generated
and transmitted is at its maximum because consumption is high.
Ripple control
system. A small signal of a certain frequency can be sent over the
HV (high voltage) and MV (medium voltage) networks that turns special
switches on and off in dwellings and streets.
Low Amp
dwellings. These are dwelling grids that can only transmit
relatively small electrical loads. For instance they have only 5 amp
fuses that are typically used for lighting circuits. This puts low
limits on the amount of electrical product they can use at any time.
This reduces to demand they can make on the community grid.
Bulk-gen
electricity. Electrical resources generated using very large
machinery or plant. Typically the plant have the capacity to generate
hundreds of megawatts of the resource.
Civil
Protection. Another name for this is Civil Defence. It
refers to strategies and resources created to reduce the destructive
impacts on societies of war and other disasters such as earthquakes,
hurricanes, floods, firestorms, snow and/or ice storms etc.
The
rating is on a continuum:
Intelligent
.....................................Incoherent.
It
employs six categories varying from high intelligent meter/grid to high
incoherent meter grid. Meters and grids may exhibit the characteristics
of more than one category. Pictorial versions of them will be added to
this page.
Category
1: High intelligent meter/grid
- All dwellings are encouraged to make a
contribution to their community grid i.e. citizen receives more for
exporting electrical products to the grid than what they pay to
import electrical products from it.
- Charges on low amp systems reflect the
true grid costs i.e. dwellings that that do not import much product
at “peak load times” pay only for the electrical generation and
transmission capacity that they demand.
- Broadband throughout grid system within
dwelling and occupant can select from wide range of information and
entertainment sources.
- Dwelling occupant owns all the data of
how and when their electrical appliances work and the comfort level
statistics of the dwelling. The occupant has complete control over
the broadcast of this information.
- Detailed consumption history of
dwelling freely available.
- Local grid management and dwelling
occupant can maintain seamless two-way conversation using broadband
(wireless or grid wiring).
- System primarily driven by democratic,
energy efficiency and Civil Protection imperatives.
Category
2: Moderate intelligent meter/grid.
- Dwelling can make contribution to the
grid with minimal impediment and no net profit from exchange of
products.
- Low amp dwellings pay true grid cost
plus 10% subsidy towards maintaining systems to cope with the excess
demand created by higher amp dwellings.
- Dwelling occupant owns all the data of
how and when their electrical appliances work and the comfort level
statistics of the dwelling. The occupant has partial control over
who this information can be broadcast to.
- Detailed history of occupant’s
consumption history freely available from community grid owner.
- Community grid management and dwelling
occupant can maintain seamless two-way conversation using 56 Kbps
(wireless or grid wiring).
- Broadband not available throughout
dwelling circuitry but may exist over wireless links between the
dwelling and the community grid owner.
- The performance of “smart”
appliances can be monitored at the switchboard by dwelling occupier.
- System mainly driven by democratic,
energy efficiency and Civil Protection imperatives.
Category
3: Low intelligent meter/grid.
- Dwelling can make a contribution to the
grid with minimal impediment and small loss on the exchange of
products.
- Low amp dwellings pay true grid cost
plus 30% subsidy towards maintaining systems to cope with the excess
demand created by higher amp dwellings.
- Dwelling occupant share ownership with
the community grid owner of all the data of how and when some of
their electrical appliances work. The occupant has very limited
control over who this information can be broadcast to.
- Broadband not available throughout grid
system within dwelling but exists for one-way communication to
community grid owner.
- Local grid management and dwelling
occupant can maintain two-way conversation using the “ripple
control” system.
- System partially driven by democratic,
energy efficiency and Civil Protection imperatives.
Category
4: Low incoherent meter/grid.
- Dwelling can make a contribution to the
grid but faces technical impediments and small loss on the exchange
of products.
- Low amp dwellings pay true grid cost
plus 50% subsidy towards maintaining systems to cope with the excess
demand created by higher amp dwellings.
- Dwelling occupant share ownership with
the Bulk-gen electricity supplier of all the data of how and when
some of their electrical appliances work. The occupant has very
limited control over who this information can be broadcast to.
- Broadband not available throughout grid
system within dwelling but exists for one-way communication
controlled by Bulk-gen electricity supplier.
- Citizen has token democratic rights in
how local electrical potential is used.
- Minimum or conflicting support for
energy efficiency practice.
- Civil Protection considerations given
minimal value.
Category
5: Moderate incoherent meter/grid.
- Dwelling occupier can make a
contribution to the grid and is subject to serious impediments such
as double metering and high tax and transaction costs plus exports
at a loss because of pricing mechanism.
- Low amp dwellings pay true grid cost
plus over 50% subsidy towards maintaining systems to cope with the
excess demand created by higher amp dwellings.
- Estimation algorithms produce 10-20%
average inaccuracy in bills flawed.
- Bulk-gen electricity supplier
effectively owns all the data of how and when some of dwelling
electrical appliances work. Some “smart” appliances connected to
display computer on dwelling switch board.
The occupant has very limited control over who this
information can be broadcast to.
- Dwelling occupier has no direct vote in
how local electrical potential is used. National legislation
dictates they can belong to democratic structures that own the
community grid or that retail the products transmitted over it but
they cannot do both.
- Short-term profit imperatives prevail.
- Energy efficiency practice not
supported.
- Civil Protection considerations given
token value as part of PR strategy.
Category
6: High incoherent meter/grid.
- Meter switched off to two-way flow i.e.
only flow of Bulk-gen electricity permitted i.e. dwelling occupier
can only import product off the community grid from Bulk-gen
electricity retailer.
- Low amp dwellings pay true grid cost
plus over 100% subsidy towards maintaining systems to cope with the
excess demand created by higher amp dwellings.
- Dwelling consumption histories not
maintained or hard to access. Occupant must measure the consumption
of each appliance individually by manual means.
- Meters inaccurate.
- Estimation algorithms produce 20% plus
average inaccuracy in bills.
- System driven by short-term profit
imperatives of bankers of Bulk-electricity/fossil fuel sector or
other narrow sector group. Citizens have no effective vote in how
their local electrical potential is used and are deemed tradeable
commodities by legislation and thus by the Bulk-gen electricity
corporations who own them.
- System promotes inefficient uses of
Bulk-electricity and actively destroys concepts of energy efficiency
e.g. associates energy efficiency with deprivation.
- Civil Protection considerations given
zero value or rated as liabilities.
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