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Panel Detail:

Wednesday, April 29, 2009
8:00 AM - 9:15 AM

Power to the People: Rebuilding the Electrical Grid for the 21st Century

Moderator:

Joel Kurtzman, Senior Fellow, Milken Institute; Executive Director, SAVE

The United States' electrical grid must be modernized before the nation can take advantage of renewable energy sources, a panel of experts said.

An updated electrical grid is "a vital component of any movement that we have toward increased use of solar and wind energy," moderator Joel Kurtzman said. Although 100 square miles in Arizona could provide all the nation′s electrical needs if currently available technologies were deployed there, it would not be feasible to transmit electricity to the entire country using the current grid, said Alan Salzman of VantagePoint Venture Partners.

Modernizing the aging electrical grid will present "enormous opportunities and returns, both for consumers and investors," Salzman said. By upgrading to a "smart grid," energy providers will have the flexibility to tap into renewable energy sources and the ability to better monitor and manage their transmission line networks.

The global investment into electrical grids is projected to be $16 trillion in the next 20 years. The industry will focus heavily on increasing power storage, electricity generation, transmission capacity and grid security.

Arnold Leitner of SkyFuel Inc. said thermal energy, such as heat contained by large volumes of salt water, is an efficient and environmentally friendly method of storing power. Currently, the electrical grid has virtually no storage capacity, so it has been difficult to make use of sources such as nocturnal wind that occurs in certain areas of the country.

Ron Stoltz of Sandia National Laboratories said there is no security oversight of the national electrical grid because of the fragmented nature of regulation. The U.S. electrical grid is regulated by more than 130 agencies at the federal, state and municipal levels. "There is no way that this country will achieve its energy requirements without a fundamental change in regulation," said Tom Casey of Current Group.

The shift toward electric vehicles also will affect the grid. "The electrification of vehicles is a certainty; everybody in the industry understands that′s where we′re going. But the grid and the infrastructure need to improve for that to occur," Salzman said.

Electric vehicles will act as mobile stores of energy and may be able return power to the grid during times of peak demand. While Leitner questioned whether consumers would be willing to put energy back into the grid, others on the panel were confident that incentives and education would encourage consumers to participate.

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