Utilities respond to smart grid spectrum debate

Last week, I wrote a column looking at the question of whether utilities need their own dedicated spectrum for smart grid deployments. Given the cost and complexity of spectrum ownership, coupled with the fact that telecom service providers already own and operate networks, I suggested the answer was no. Based on some e-mails from knowledgeable readers, however, it is clear that there is more than one side to this issue. Telcos and utilities still have much to learn about one another, so I thought some of the comments were worth sharing:

From the Utilities Telecom Council:
In response to your article entitled “Do smart grids need special spectrum,” I agree that the energy and water utility market offers tremendous business opportunities for commercial wireless carriers. However, it is important to note that utilities already have extensive communications networks that they have built, owned and used long before commercial wireless companies were in existence.

Electric utilities use their own wireless networks to control and monitor their transmission and distribution networks, as well as to provide emergency voice and data communications to their crews in the field. The reason they operate these private internal communications systems is that they need highly reliable networks in places commercial networks don’t go. Worker and customer safety demands that utilities cannot afford dead spots or dropped calls when workers’ lives are at stake. Additionally, utility control systems require low latency levels that are just not available from commercial networks. And finally, utilities build their own control systems to survive disasters and remain up and running when all other communications systems are down. The kinds of situations that every commercial telecom provider protects itself from with “force majeure” provisions in their contracts are exactly when utilities’ communications need to be and are up and running.

The need for spectrum is real and urgent. In the near term, utilities are already suffering from a lack of spectrum for their existing communications systems. They can’t find available frequencies to expand systems, and they are increasingly getting interference from other incompatible systems that are coordinated on top of their own. These problems are a real threat to public safety and safety of line crews because these communications systems are essential to keeping the power on and protecting workers. The inherent problem utilities have is that there is no dedicated spectrum for critical infrastructure communications; instead utilities and other critical infrastructure industries must share spectrum with other radio users (including taxicabs and pizza delivery services), and the FCC has reallocated/re-banded several critical spectrum bands used by utilities, thus relocating or freezing their systems in those bands.

A dedicated spectrum allocation in the 1.8 GHz band would harmonize the U.S. with Canada, thereby promoting a smart grid in North America. As you may know, the U.S. and Canadian grids are interconnected, and a fault in the U.S. can cascade into Canada and back again, as it did during the Northeast Blackout in 2003. Harmonizing the U.S. with Canada would promote interoperability between U.S. and Canadian utilities. Moreover, it would promote equipment development in the band by making the market bigger and more attractive for manufacturers. Equipment has been developed already, but more is needed and is being developed this year. That is why major utilities in the U.S. — like AEP — are supporting a dedicated spectrum allocation in the 1.8 GHz band.

For more information on the need for dedicated spectrum, see UTC’s Spectrum Crisis Report and our FAQ.

From a proponent of dedicated spectrum for utilities:
You clearly do not understand the needs of utility infrastructure.

During the 1970s, larger utilities built their own communication networks to create a more reliable grid (Relaying, SCADA).

The concern of carriers is not for reliability to the utilities, but for the bottom line. Utilities need a highly reliable communications infrastructure to provide reliable service to their customers.

Most major utilities already have a backbone system. They have trained technicians that understand the operation of the grid and can respond immediately to problems.

By building their own infrastructure they do not have to deal with interconnect problems such as ground potential rise. They also build on a one-time capital expense and do not have to pay ever-increasing lease costs for circuits.

My experience with telcos is that the problem is never theirs, but the circuit miraculously starts working again.

It is proven over time that the least expensive and most reliable utility communication systems are ones that are owned and operated by the utilities themselves. This helps to keep the rates to their customers lower and provides for better control of the grid.

With new federal standards, the utilities have to have visibility of their whole system, and with intermediate communications paths for their circuits that is impossible.

E-mail me at sarah.reedy@penton.com.