RALEIGH, NC--(Marketwire - December 23, 2008) -
Optimal
Technologies International, Inc., the leading developer of
technologies to optimize power grid
systems, is urging the incoming presidential administration to take the
necessary steps to bring about a truly
smart grid, establishing a
legacy that will ensure
safety,
security, and a
green, clean
future.
President-elect Obama was swept into office due to his visionary
leadership, which includes aggressive goals for a transition to renewable
energy, as well as a smart grid that can handle plug-in hybrids, innovative
new demand-side business opportunities to create a large number of new
jobs, and the ability for ordinary consumers to sell electricity back to
the grid.
While many are calling for incremental changes to stave off the inevitable
meltdown of the grid system, Optimal Technologies urges incoming leadership
to take a fresh and serious look at the nation's grid and implement changes
that reflect deep and
lasting shifts in policy.
"Such leaders as Vice President Al Gore and Google CEO Eric Schmidt are
advocating that we advance beyond our dependency on polluting coal, as well
as move quickly to upgrade our ailing grid system. For this to occur, we
must demand a sea change in the way that electricity is managed, both from
a business and operational standpoint," said Roland Schoettle, Optimal
Chairman and CEO. "This, in turn, requires a new regulatory environment, at
both the federal and state levels."
According to power industry researcher the Electric Power Research
Institute (EPRI), smart grid technologies are a cost efficient approach to
meeting new energy policy goals, with the potential for reducing
consumption by a significant amount, while putting renewables online at a
far faster rate than would otherwise be possible.
Meanwhile, key overseers such as the North American Electric Reliability
Corporation (NERC) are warning that our present day grid system is woefully
unprepared to keep pace with consumer and policy maker demands. The
nonprofit Edison Electric Institute recently estimated that the grid will
require $1.5 to $2 trillion in upgrades over the next 20 years if we
continue on our present trajectory. To put this amount in perspective, it
is more than twice the entire federal bailout package.
Yet, much of this can be avoided if we instead move towards the
implementation of an optimized genius grid. The genius grid of the future
will be an optimized mix of legacy transmission, distribution, and
generation, but will also include new clean/green demand-side micro-grid
technologies that allow buildings and communities to be environmentally
responsible.
Such new genius grids will use the smartest of the present smart grid
technologies to provide altogether new visibility into, and optimization
of, the supply and demand-side using innovative grid-connected generation
technologies. Wherever possible these new generation technologies must be
renewable and must be optimized to provide maximum local and wide-area
benefits using the grid as the energy delivery backbone.
If done right, this new genius grid will:
-- Accommodate and optimize the addition of "utility-scale" renewables;
-- Accommodate and optimize the addition of small renewable generation
(especially new clean/green generation made more difficult to accommodate
due to its intermittent nature);
-- Significantly reduce the price tag on infrastructure improvements to
meet known needs for security, reliability and environmentally related
improvements in the old grid;
-- Accommodate and optimize the movement from gas to electricity in the
US and international vehicle fleets;
-- Encourage all forms of innovative electric vehicles to feed back power
into the grid and also offer grid regulation to offset variable generation
from renewables -- otherwise previously impossible;
-- Accommodate a new paradigm and scalable framework for the creation of
a vast number of new high value jobs and innovative technologies.
"These recommendations are tantamount to a complete rethinking of how power
is managed, bought and sold," said Schoettle. "For those who urge a more
cautious approach, there's nothing safe about continuing to rely on the
same old methodologies that have resulted in a disaster prone grid that
doesn't meet our present requirements for information-age power quality,
doesn't meet our need to maximize clean and green, and doesn't invite
nearly enough innovative new jobs. If we as a nation are to remain globally
competitive, we must act boldly to upgrade the aging infrastructure and
replace it with one that can handle the increasing demands placed on it."
These improvements need not be as costly as some are predicting, and as
Barack Obama has himself pointed out, millions of American jobs will be
created if America takes steps to build a smart grid and open up the
electrical industry. In addition, innovative technologies to improve the
network, such as the
AEMPFAST platform, are already
on the market today.
"A greener, more efficient, and highly intelligent grid is within our
grasp. Let's not let it slip away," said Schoettle.
If you would like to learn more about Optimal Technologies, the smart grid,
or speak about this with Roland Schoettle, please contact Amy Neal or
Sunshine Mugrabi at LaunchSquad: (415) 625-8555 or email:
otii(at)launchsquad(dot)com.
About Optimal Technologies
Optimal Technologies develops solutions
to help power utilities, businesses and consumers maximize their energy
efficiency and minimize their carbon footprint. The company's mission is to
enable a more efficient, reliable and environmentally responsible electric
power grid. Optimal's unique products and services have the potential to
create unprecedented industry, economic, environmental and consumer
benefits worldwide. Optimal is a privately held company financed by Goldman
Sachs International.
Contact Information: Corporate Contact
Lynette E. McInnes
(919) 459-9818
lynettem(at)otii(dot)com