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customers should support grid services when they are not purchasing much electricity from
theutilityremainsunresolved.AssolarPVproducespowerduringthemiddleoftheday,its
value is often quite high. The challenge electric utilities face from high levels of solar and
other forms of distributed generation is often (and dramatically) termed “the utility death
spiral,” as it undercuts utilities' current basic business model.
Whether ornotsmart gridis auseful term remains openfordebate. While its widespread
use in the past decade suggests that many seem to find it a convenient label to describe
general electric system change, some people scrupulously avoid the term. We have already
mentioned how it is an ill-defined, ambiguous, umbrella term that means something
different to different people. Many have asked: is such a vague term useful? A 2011 MIT
report entitled “The Future of the Electric Grid” intentionally avoided the label smart
using this phrase because of its ambiguity. Other technical authors have also balked at
its ambiguity and meaninglessness. Within the power sector, there seems to be a general
shift toward the less polarizing term “grid modernization.” However, smart grid retains its
cachet.
These unresolved tensions and emerging power struggles result from a complex
landscape of competing priorities and concerns. In this topic, we explore this complexity
by telling multiple stories about smart grid development in different places and across
different scales. In these narratives, we demonstrate how individuals' perceptions of smart
grid depend on their worldview and the priorities established within their cultural and
professional spheres. Different actors support different dimensions of smart grid
development, and see smart grid as fulfilling different societal goals. Some actors,
particularly those who are skeptical and unsupportive of smart grid development, see
smart grid as increasing risks associated with big government and corporate control in
society, raising negative health and safety issues from smart meter radiation, reducing
privacy from data energy consumption data, and enhancing the vulnerability of the grid to
cyber-sabotage.
1.5 Our Approach
Electricity systems are an increasingly critical complex infrastructure that most people
do not know much about. One goal of this topic is to reveal and explain some of this
complexity. A secondary goal relates back to the parable of the elephant and the blind men.
Even among those who are well informed about the electricity system either through their
professional work or their personal interest, it is clear that individuals and organizations
(and even individuals within an organization) have very different perspectives, priorities,
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