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Smart Grids – Adam Smith or Orwell?

A quick scan of blogs and media coverage of Smart Grids for electricity quickly reveals a fear of a system that could have been envisaged by Orwell.  Fears of big brother type of systems are given voice by many, including Lawrence Solomon at the National Post.

Under the so-called “smart grid” that the UK is developing, the government-regulated utility will be able to decide when and where power should be delivered, to ensure that it meets the highest social purpose. Governments may, for example, decide that the needs of key industries take precedence over others, or that the needs of industry trump that of residential consumers. Governments would also be able to price power prohibitively if it is used for non-essential purposes.

A “Peak” at an Example of a Smart Grid System

Smart Grids for electrical utilities offer the potential to transform how electricity is produced, transmitted and consumed.  In some respects, it represents a comparable type of change to what the Internet introduced into traditional switched circuit voice networks and point-to-point host-terminal computing systems.  By linking users, producers and transmission operators into a dynamic and interactive network, Smart Grids offer the potential to increase the utilization of generating assets and create a platform that can introduce real-time competition into all parts of the energy markets.

The Globe and Mail has published an article that provides one illustrative example of how a  Smart Grid application can and does work to improve the operations of power networks.

Reaganomics: What We Learned: From December 1982 to June 1990, Reaganomics created over 21 million jobs. The right policies can do it again

For 16 years prior to Ronald Reagan’s presidency, the U.S. economy was in a tailspin—a result of bipartisan ignorance that resulted in tax increases, dollar devaluations, wage and price controls, minimum-wage hikes, misguided spending, pandering to unions, protectionist measures and other policy mistakes.

Foreign Investment is No Panacea

Terrence Corcoran take the government to task today in an article at the Financial Post.  He asserts that the government has muddled their priorities when it comes to promoting competition before liberalizing rules governing foreign investment.

The future promises at least another decade of tangled policy, court battles and regulatory chaos — and delayed innovation. No other outcome is possible so long as the government intends to set the policy agenda exactly backward. The plan, as frequently outlined by Industry Minister Tony Clement, is to first get all the spectrum allocated and settle all the competition issues, including installing a range of competing companies. Only then will the government look at changing foreign-ownership regulations.

Captive Customer, Captive Supplier – Captive Government?

The discussion and debate related to usage-based billing of broadband communications essentially comes down to one problem.  Residential customers in Canada for the most part are captive customer of one, two or three alternative service providers due to the nature of their connection from the residence to the network.

What most people forget is those connections, whether they be twisted pair copper cables or coaxial CATV cables, were deployed under a regulated monopoly regime mandated and enforced by public policy.  When deregulation and competition was introduced into those sectors, the process did not include un-bundling that last mile link so that  open and vigorous competition could emerge for the demand of residential customers.