Smart Grid 101 - The smart grid’s new systems
In this article the writer describes the different systems that are involved in Smart Grids. He does a very good job making everything clear and concise. Obviously the part that I care about is the GIS, but it is important to understand how the system as a whole works. The system that most consumers will probably be concerned with is OMS or outage management system. These systems effectively tell the utility that there is a current outage. This replaces the traditional method of reporting done by the consumer. These systems are advanced enough that they can detect potential outages. With this kind of technology the consumer gets the very quickest response time and during emergency situations relief groups can efficiently help.
Utilities Dumbstruck By Big Data From Smarter Grid
On the flip side of the other article we can read about how all of the data collected by smart grids are overwhelming utility companies. The article primarily covers a panel presentation. I do not view the abundance of data as a bad thing. What this really means is that this is the perfect time to get into jobs in the geospatial industry. Applications will need to be coded, analysts will need to be on hand at major utilities, and data managers will be in high demand.
Big data is only going to get bigger and the need to process it is a big opportunity.
(EDITING NOTE: I'm not sure what happened on this post. I thought I published yesterday, but it doesn't seem to be the case. It's up now though.)