It’s been a crazy career, and focusing on energy and billing data has made it interesting. Many of us have moved from landlines to cell phones in our daily lives over my lifetime (60 years). There is a lot to say about how innovation and social technologies have contributed to this. Can anyone tell me a change in our industry that has affected us all like the evolution of the cell phone?
Smart Meters – Not really
Smart Grids – Not really
eBilling – Not really
I could go on. The fact is that we use the word “smart” as a way to suggest it has the potential to change things, but we are okay with it not happening if it makes us look good or we personally save / make money . It’s like keeping our own shovel and pail in the sandbox while building. When we try, we set up multi-year working groups that don’t like to share, or no one listens to. The result is usually bad or just not keeping up with change outside of our black box. To get a bit geeky here, a good example of our accomplishments in data sharing over the last years is to build a standard using XML. Who the hell, out side our industry creates data standards using xml.
Here is another fun fact. I can almost guarantee that very few of us understand what’s on our utility bills because most of the people who created the rates, plans, and tariffs are retired or have moved on to other fields of work. In many cases, no one documented the original intent, and then lawmakers make changes depending on the flavour of the day.
Look, don’t misunderstand me here. There are some simple bill calculations and good “smart” implementations, BUT when you consider reviewing the different “sources of truth” of the data, data sharing opportunities and the actual outcomes of our “smart” ideas, you come to realize there are so many ways to be better.
For years, I have offered my shovel and pail working with Utilities, innovators and governments. Why has there been such a fight to take what I have and what you have to make a better grid? I am now creating a way for universities to get access to the energy data for unbiased research. Let’s agree that our young need to learn quicker than we did. I really don’t think we can wait another 60 years to try to solve the energy and climate problems we have today. Come to the sandbox, and let’s make energy education and information sharing a part of the past so we can see a future of innovation like the phone industry.