Promises and Pitfalls of Smart Grid - Smart Grid (R) Evolution: Electric Power Struggles - page 17

spectrum, with different individuals and organizations having disparate expectations and
perceptions of what is possible and what changes should be made. This broad range of
priorities creates inevitable tensions that are now being felt. While environmental quality
is fundamentally important for some smart grid supporters, it is peripheral for others. The
potential for smart grid to empower people to become more engaged and involved in their
electricity systems captures a set of socially oriented promises that are very appealing to
some; on the other hand, these assumptions for cultural change are disregarded by others
as unrealistic, impractical, or unnecessary.
Maintaining a reliable and secure electricity system is considered critical for economic
and political stability, which means that all changes in the electricity system potentially
have both economic and political implications. Smart grid, therefore, is associated with a
broad array of promises as well as pitfalls.
While the primary goal of many involved in developing future electricity systems is
to provide low-cost, reliable access to electricity, some have also embraced smart grid
as a technological platform that promises to address larger societal ills. Perceptions of
the potential of smart grid span a broad range with a utopian optimism at one extreme
and a dystopic pessimism at the other, with most individuals and organizations falling
somewhere in between.
At the optimistic end of the spectrum, smart grid promises a new electricity world
where revamped systems provide perfect alignment in improving multiple social as well as
environmental challenges and contributing positively to the human condition. In this utopic
smart grid vision, increased automation of the grid allows for a reliable “self-healing”
infrastructure which integrates renewable energy production, seamlessly balances energy
supply and demand, and allows for citizens to drive clean and quiet electric vehicles. The
negative environmental and health impacts of electricity production would be eliminated
by the more sophisticated electricity system. Citizens would breathe crystal-clear air, as
emissions of air pollutants like SO x , NO x , and particulates that contribute to childhood
asthma (EPA 2013a ), and greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to anthropogenic
climate change (EPA 2013b ), would be further reduced by the transition away from
fossil fuels to renewable-based generation. This optimistic perspective is captured in the
following quote from the Natural Resources Defense Council: “The smart grid can give
us cleaner air, better health, lower electricity bills, and reduced carbon dioxide (CO 2 )
emissions in the atmosphere” (NRDC 2012 ) .
On the pessimistic end of the spectrum, smart grid includes pitfalls that pose
unacceptable risks to both individuals and society, including high economic costs,
increased social inequality, worsened environmental and health impacts, and diminished