Smart Grid Technologies – Calendar of Events for January 2010

A friend of mine told me a childhood story of when he was traveling with his grandmother over the holidays.

His entire family – parents, siblings, and grandma – piled into the car for an 8 hour drive to his visit the rest of his family.  No sooner had they arrived and started to get out of the car, his grandmother said, “Oh No!  I don’t think I turned the oven off!!”  Without having anyone to call (since everyone was on the trip), his poor dad had to get back in the car and drive all the way back to grandma’s house to see if she turned off the oven.  The sad part was when he arrived at grandma’s house – she had.

There was a time when you would only dream of being able to reach over to your cell phone and open up the app that would have turned off the oven – or even checked to see if it was on?  Or how about the lights when you are away?  Well if Smart Grid technology experts have their way, you will.

The technology is now here that let’s you forget about setting the timers that turn lights on throughout your house to give the impression that you are home when you are actually away.  Or how about monitoring your child’s computer time when you are at work?  Or to be able to check on how many lights are on when the only person at home is that young energy hog who can’t seem to ever turn the lights off?  All of these possibilities are in sight when it comes to the marriage of energy and technology.  Soon, you will be able to be the true master of your domain through the help of Smart Grid Technology.

Companies like GE, and IBM are developing technologies that are now being used by utility companies such as FPL who have launched a Smart Grid pilot program in Miami, Fl to test out the latest in how we are going to use our electricity.

The electric grid delivers electricity from points of generation to consumers, and the electricity delivery network functions via two primary systems: the transmission system and the distribution system. The transmission system delivers electricity from power plants to distribution substations, while the distribution system delivers electricity from distribution substations to consumers. The grid also encompasses myriads of local area networks that use distributed energy resources to serve local loads and/or to meet specific application requirements for remote power, village or district power, premium power, and critical loads protection. – The Department of Energy

If this is where you see your future and you want to be come a part of the people who are making this a reality, then here are two options.  For the latest in job opportunities, you can check out Smart Grid Careers . It’s an interactive industry directory to keep you up on the latest in Smart Grid Careers.

You can also check out the January calendar events for Smart Grid Conferences around the world.  These conferences will give you the opportunity to not only stay informed, but have fabulous networking opportunities with the top of the industry.