Combining real-time usage data with the newest technology can earn benefits for utilities.
Susan Covino is Manager–Demand Side Response, at PJM Interconnection.
Some amount of confusion on the part of end-users of electricity is inevitable as the electricity industry evolves. Confusion seems to be a necessary ingredient of change. At PJM Interconnection, we see fusion as the answer to confusion. First is the fusion of technology — both computing and communications technology — with the electric industry. Second is the fusion of pricing and usage information with the end-user's ability to act on that information.
We can maximize efficiency using pricing information. Once customers are able to see and respond to real-time pricing information, the electric industry will be more efficient, and concerns about market power will lessen. Fusion will replace confusion. The questions are, when, and how?