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2021-04-12 10:10:00

U.S. DIGITAL ENERGY INVESTMENT $2 TLN

U.S. DIGITAL ENERGY INVESTMENT $2 TLN

 

By Henry Craver Small Business Owner Self-employed

ENERGYCENTRALThere’s a lot of money set to go around this summer. Historic amounts of money, actually. President Biden’s American Jobs Plan proposes pumping $2.3 trillion into a slew of sectors over the next eight years. As the name suggests, this is being marketed as a job creator to be for, at least in part, by a corporate tax hike. The plan is not yet law, and the final version is likely to be more modest. But still, the country is almost certain to get a very healthy cash infusion this decade. 

As it stands now, the investments break down like this: $650 billion in ‘infrastructure at home’, $621 billion in transportation infrastructure, $580 billion in research and development and workforce development and manufacturing, and $400 billion in the caretaking economy. Some of those categories include things related to the grid, and power more generally. For example, ‘infrastructure at home’ includes $100 billion for electrical infrastructure and ‘transportation infrastructure’ includes $174 billion for EV infrastructure. It’s less clear if ‘research and development’ relates to this industry, but it’s not hard to imagine how it might. 

So what can we hope for in terms of digital power industry investments? A lot, in my opinion. 

To start, the industry is plagued with cyber security weaknesses. Industrial control systems that used to be air-gapped from the internet are now hooked up. Many of these systems are poorly observed and unpatched. This problem has recently attracted the attention of the Department of Energy, luckily. The concerns are outlined in this report to the United States Government Accountability Office. I’d hope this issue receives stimulus money. It is, afterall, an issue of national security. 

Beyond a comprehensive cyber security push, there is a great need to make the grid smarter overall. Many residential areas in the country still rely on analog meters, over a decade since smart meters became available in practical terms. This seems like a straight forward project that requires little more than money, without any sort of fundamental rethinking. On a similar note, smart thermostats should be promoted. This stuff is low-hanging fruit, folks. 

Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) are another area of potential investment. For those unfamiliar with the term, this is how VPPs are described in a recent Forbes article: “ VPPs pair inexpensive equipment installed at electrical customers’ homes and businesses with some very smart networking software to take over many of the functions that multi-billion-dollar natural gas, coal-fired, or nuclear plants did in the last century.”

VPPs have the potential to transform the grid into a much greener and resilient beast. The great thing is that there are already promising companies researching and developing such systems, so this wouldn’t have to be a start-from-zero government initiative. The government would just have to give the innovators money to keep up the good work. Check out that same Forbes article for a rundown on some of the big VPP players right now. 

It’s still unclear where this stimulus money is going to go. Biden’s proposal, afterall, is just a proposal. What worries me is that too much money will go into roads and transportation. Democrats are promoting the roads and bridges aspect at nauseum, and Republicans are complaining there isn’t enough roads and bridges. This seems like a recipe for more roads and bridges. Journalist Matt Yglesias laid out convincingly in a recent post why roads and bridges shouldn’t be priority in the U.S. The grid, and specifically the digital upgrades it needs, really should take center stage. Let’s hope it does.

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This thought leadership article was originally shared with Energy Central's Digital Utility Community Group. The communities are a place where professionals in the power industry can share, learn and connect in a collaborative environment. Join the Digital Utility Community today and learn from others who work in the industry.  

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Tags: USA, ENERGY, INVESTMENT, DIGIT