Conned by the Internet of Things megahype--PG&E

-PG&E hq at San Francisco

10-24-2017      On the night of Oct. 8 when the wildfires that have ravaged northern California began, local fire crews were called to at least 10 different locations along Pacific Gas & Electric’s power lines after 911 calls reported sparking wires and other problems.  And just two days before that, California utility companies including PG&E succeeded, yet again, in getting a safety initiative intended to prevent future fires delayed, the Mercury News reports.  (This has happened at least five times before, according to a state Senate subcommittee.)  The initiative, nearly a decade in the making, would have essentially mapped where power lines pose the biggest fire threat.  PG&E, along with other California utilities, opposed it.  According to a PG&E statement in July, parts of the initiative would “add unnecessary costs to construction and maintenance projects in rural areas.”  Now after years of opposing the new safety rules, PG&E’s lines are prime suspects in this month’s wildfires.    https://qz.com/1110906/pge-whose-power-lines-are-suspected-in-north-bay-fires-opposed-safety-measures-over-expense/

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11-18-18  A week after reporting a power-line outage near where the Camp Fire is suspected of starting, Pacific Gas & Electric said in a regulatory filing that it suffered a second problem with a high voltage line (resulting in fire several miles off from the first) the morning the devastating fire ignited. https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/fires/article221861975.html

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3-7-2018     In order to address the distinct needs of each segment of their customer population, PG&E needed to update their data processes and grow their analytic skill set, leading to an ‘Evolution of Analytics.’  And, with Smart Grid and Smart Meter capabilities ramping-up, PG&E was better positioned than ever to tap into the Internet of Things to drive value, insights, and efficiencies across their enterprise.

This cultural shift laid the foundation for a more refined process of identifying challenges, testing solutions, and tracking impact for more targeted customer programs and cross-cutting strategic issues.

https://www.engerati.com/transmission-and-distribution/company-resources/demand-response/pge-taps-internet-things-tackling

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PG&E President Says Utility is Investing Today for the 'Grid of Things'™ of Tomorrow

Grid will interconnect customers' energy technologies, Chris Johns says in keynote at Edison Foundation Institute for Electric Innovation's "Powering the People"

March 19, 2015
Contact: PG&E External Communications (415) 973-5930

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — In a keynote address today in Washington, D.C., PG&E President Chris Johns laid out the company's vision for a 21^st-century power grid equipped to maximize the use and benefits of a growing array of advanced energy technologies available to utilities and their customers, from electric vehicles and rooftop solar to smart appliances and battery storage.

Johns spoke at "Powering the People:  Connected Conversations," an event at the Newseum sponsored by the Edison Foundation Institute for Electric Innovation(IEI). Johns is co-chair of IEI's management committee.

Johns said:  "Our customers expect us to develop, build and maintain a grid that allows them to take full advantage of all of the new energy technology that we are seeing today—and in a way that gives them maximum flexibility, maximum choice in how they use energy, and ultimately maximum value.  At PG&E, we're thinking of this type of grid as the Grid of Things.™"

Much like the tech industry's concept of the "internet of things," PG&E's vision of the Grid of Things™ is a "plug-and-play" platform that allows emerging energy technologies to be interconnected with each other and integrated into the larger grid in ways that optimize their capabilities and benefits for customers.   https://www.pge.com/en/about/newsroom/newsdetails/index.page?title=20150319_pge_president_says_utility_is_investing_today_for_the_grid_of_thingstrade_of_tomorrow

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PG&E has been conned by the Grid of Things/Internet of Things mega-hype!

Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/fires/article221861975.html#storylink=cpy