Environmental Engineering Reference
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relationships with existing systems (and less of a financial stake in maintaining the status
quo) are more likely to envision radical, even revolutionary, change.
Power struggles surrounding who has control and who benefits from smart grid emerged
prominently in our analysis of three particularly important aspects of smart grid
development: smart meter deployment in Chapter 5 , integration of large-scale wind power
in Chapter 6 , and community-based and small-scale initiatives in Chapter 7 . Smart meters
couldoffernewkindsofcontroltobothelectricityconsumersandtheutilitiesmanagingthe
flowofelectricity.Costandefficiencybenefitsarepossibleforbothconsumersandutilities
through the enhanced capacity to monitor and measure electricity use. Some stakeholders
are skeptical, however, about whether the economic benefits of smart meters are greater for
the utilities or for the consumers. The strong opposition to smart meters that is felt deeply
by some reflects concern about a loss of control associated with a mistrust of government's
and utilities' concern to protect privacy and health.
The coevolution of smart grid development and the integration of large-scale wind
energy explored in Chapter 6 reflect different kinds of power struggles. As we noted, the
rapid scaling up of wind power during the last decade in Texas, the Upper Midwest, and
Germany has resulted in levels of wind integration previously thought to be technically
impossible. But this new renewable generation has also generated multiple struggles over
the control of infrastructure development. A recurring challenge in all three of these
cases discussed in Chapter 6 focused on who has control over building (and paying for)
new transmission capacity to move the power to where it is needed. With transmission
lines, additional power struggles emerge because those who benefit from the additional
electricity transported through the new power lines are often not the communities impacted
by or paying for the new transmission lines.
The community-based and small-scale initiatives explored in Chapter 7 highlight
another set of power struggles associated primarily with a quest for more local control
and self-reliance. In these examples, we see how unique and strong individuals and
communities are working to counter the prevailing paradigm of centralized, large-scale
electricity generation. These examples provide inspiring examples of how individuals and
communities have been taking control of electricity systems and ensuring that they benefit
fromthesystemsinthewaystheydesire.Boulder,Colorado;Austin,Texas;andBornholm,
Denmark each have a history of engaging in opportunities to develop new approaches to
electricity systems. While each of these examples provides a unique story, the quest for
more local control in electricity system is a commonality that is emerging in communities
in many parts of the world.
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