(WASHINGTON, DC) – Board members of the Utilities Technology Council are swarming
Capitol Hill today to press an energy issue flying far below the Beltway radar:
the energy needs for radio frequency spectrum. That bandwidth is particularly
crucial during grid outages when crews need to coordinate restoration and is
expected to become an increasingly stressful subject as more wireless smart
meters and sensors are added to the electric grid. The FCC has primary
jurisdiction on how portions of spectrum are doled out, and according to UTC
CEO Joy Ditto, the agency hasn't been sympathetic to the communication needs of
utilities and other power generators.
"They don't really
differentiate between us and
Joe's pizza place down the street," she told ME. "That's not the way
the rest of the government perceives us," she said, given the emphasis the
White House and the departments of Energy and Homeland Security have put on
protecting critical infrastructure like the electric grid. "Yet, when it
comes to this crucial component of our communications systems, we're not
treated any differently than anyone else." Federal utilities like the
Energy Department's power marketing administrations and the Tennessee Valley
Authority are given some priority.
One of the industry's big
concerns isn't so much that wireless
interference will trigger an emergency so much as it could make some of those
fancy sensors designed to keep the system operating reliably from sending data
at critical times. "You're lacking situational awareness, so if you're lacking
something on your system you may not see it," she said. So, during the
30-40 meetings the trade group has lined up with congressional offices, their
critical request is that FERC and the FCC talk more often, pursue a memorandum
of understanding between the two regulators, and perhaps set up joint technical
conferences, Ditto said.
