Smart Grid (R)evolution - Smart Grid (R) Evolution: Electric Power Struggles - page 215

9 Smart Grid (R)evolution
9.1 Inevitable but Unpredictable Change
We are experiencing inevitable, ongoing major changes in our electricity systems. Whether
one views the potential of smart grid as revolutionary, evolutionary, both, or neither, energy
system change is happening. Smart grid will continue to expand, develop, and evolve
as individuals, communities, utilities, states, regions, and countries struggle to integrate
multiple new and emerging challenges and expectations for energy and electricity systems.
This electricity system transition is being influenced by a confluence of forces that is
simultaneously encouraging change in technologies, institutions, and culture. Who has
control and who benefits from these changes is also shifting; how, when, and where control
is exerted and benefits are realized is a dynamic, context-specific evolution with
revolutionary potential.
We began this topic in Chapter 1 reflecting on tensions, struggles, and opportunities
associated with the electricity system disruption along the northeastern seaboard of the
United States during and after Superstorm Sandy in October 2012. The impact of that
storm reached beyond the observable economic and physical damage to highlight to the
world societal vulnerabilities in an era of increased electricity dependence and increasingly
vulnerable infrastructure facing more frequent and intense storms. Among the multiple
tensions that emerged in the aftermath of the storm, the struggle to figure out how best to
restore, protect, and transform the electricity system to minimize the likelihood of a similar
future disruption has been one of the most challenging.
We optimistically suggested in Chapter 1 that understanding how power struggles are
developing and why tensions are evolving can contribute to creative alignment of interests
and priorities in different places. As we now conclude this topic, we maintain this optimism
with a call for broader, more inclusive, and more imaginative conversations about smart grid
and its social implications. This final chapter justifies expanding smart grid conversations
and collaborations by first highlighting the importance of a sociotechnical perspective in
considering smart grid. We focus on the power struggles associated with who has control
and who benefits from smart grid, followed by a Canadian example of evolutionary smart
grid innovation paving the way for revolutionary change. Finally, we acknowledge the
diversityofsmartgridfuturesandconcludewithasimpleandpracticalmessage:broadening