Smart Grid Society Meeting

Jobs and Economic Growth Opportunities in Georgia

Topic Overview

Please join TAG for a recorded presentation and panel discussion on the impact of Smart Grid technologies, on green jobs and economic growth in Georgia. The panel will focus on economic stimulus opportunities associated with the strategies and experiences of organizations in the Smart Grid ecosystem.

 

WHAT IS SMART GRID?
The term “Smart Grid” refers to a modernization of the electricity delivery system so it monitors, protects, and automatically optimizes the operation of its interconnected elements. The Smart Grid encompasses the optimization of central and distributed power generation, renewable energy sources, energy storage, the high-voltage transmission network, distribution systems, industrial users, building automation systems, energy storage installations, end-use consumers and their thermostats, electric vehicles, appliances, and other household devices.

The Smart Grid is characterized by a two-way flow of electricity and information to create an automated, widely distributed energy delivery network. It incorporates the benefits of distributed computing and communications to deliver real-time information and enable the near-instantaneous balance of electric supply and demand at the device level.

WHY SMART GRID?

Smart Grid programs will modernize electric utility technology and evolve the power delivery business models, which served the USA well through the 20th Century, to meet new 21st Century challenges. Like an energy internet, the Smart Grid will support economic growth and market-driven improvements in the electric utility market just as technology and new business models revolutionized the telecommunications marketplace in the 1980s and 1990s. The US Federal Government and many State governments support Smart Grid programs (e.g., the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), Title XIII – Smart Grid, Sec. 1301-1308). Smart Grid technology enables consumers to manage their energy use better and helps utilities better manage the assets that produce and deliver power. Smart Grids will result in cleaner, more efficient and more reliable electric power for consumers.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?   

•          Increased power reliability and enhanced power quality.   

•          Improved physical and cyber-security of electric supply.   

•          Increased energy efficiency.   

•          Reduced green house gas emissions.   

•          Expanded consumer options.

•          Reduced utility operational costs over time.    

WHY GEORGIA AND WHY NOW?

Georgia is positioned to lead the nation in the development of Smart Grid both in terms of the demonstrated benefits of Smart Grid deployment and in the development, manufacturing and sale of the technology and systems that will make the Smart Grid a reality.

Advancing Smart Grid will result in economic growth, job creation, and capital expansion. We have a unique set of advantages that, if properly leveraged, will accelerate Georgia as a leading Smart Grid center.

The global Smart Grid market is developing quickly so it is vital that Georgia’s various stakeholders work together to advance a common effort. The TAG Smart Grid Society will fulfill this mission.