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NISC Member News: Vermont Smart-Grid Project Modeled on Vermont Electric Coop Success
Stulen said one of the mandates for Sandia National Laboratories is to work with private companies.
“Since the government doesn’t produce energy, if the country is going to make advances in deploying the smart grid and reducing dependence on oil, our lab has to work with the private sector, because that’s where all the action is,” Stulen said. “They’re the ones making investments. Our role is to support them in a way that achieves the government’s policy objectives.”
“If we can make this state a leader in energy efficiency, we can also create a lot of jobs,” Sanders said.
Other goals for the center include cybersecurity and incorporating more renewable energy into the grid, Sanders said.
“I have always believed it is enormously important we break our dependency on fossil fuel,” Sanders said. “I’m a big proponent of solar. If you have thousands of small solar arrays, it’s hard for the grid to accommodate that with all kinds of ebbs and flows of energy. How do you do that?”
Sandia can help Vermont answer that question, Sanders said. The national laboratory has done a significant amount of research surrounding security issues for the grid, Stulen said.
“As you open up the grid to more control, you also open it up to more vulnerabilities,” he said. “We have a deep understanding of some of the cyber threats internationally. We’ll bring that understanding to help inform utilities and distribution systems on how to think about cyber security.”
The funding for the new Center for Energy Transformation and Innovation, in cash and in-kind services, will break down to a total of $9 million from Sandia and $3 million each from the Department of Energy and the state, including the University of Vermont.
John Evans, senior adviser to UVM Interim President John Bramley, said Monday there is no date for when the center will open its doors. The university is also still determining where on campus the center will be located.
Evans, together with Green Mountain Power’s Powell and Marjorie Tatro of Sandia National Laboratories, serve as a steering committee for the center. Evans was traveling Monday, but the other two members of the committee were meeting to begin discussing the process of hiring a director for the center. Evans said he would join in that discussion today.
“I would hope that five years from now there is a center that’s serving the nation that Vermont has created with Sandia that’s seen as one of the leading places in the world to come for guidance around energy issues,” Evans said.
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