Patterns (Jun 2021)
Exploring energy grid resilience: The impact of data, prosumer awareness, and action
Abstract
Summary: The transition of energy grids toward future smart grids is challenging in every way: politically, economically, legally, and technically. While many aspects progress at a velocity unthinkable a generation ago, one aspect remained mostly dormant: human electricity consumers. The involvement of consumers thus far can be summarized by two questions: “Should I buy the eco-friendly appliance? Will solar pay off for me?” However, social and psychological aspects of consumers can profoundly contribute to resilient smart grids. This vision paper explores the role of active consumer-producers (prosumers) in the resilient operation of smart energy grids. We investigate how data can empower people to become more involved in energy grid operations, the potential of heightened awareness, mechanisms for incentives, and other tools for enhancing prosumer actions toward resilience. We further explore the potential benefits to people and system when people are active, aware participants in the goals and operation of the system. The bigger picture: Energy grids are highly data-driven socio-technical systems, which have historically been top-level managed. They are in transition because of moves to different sources of energy as well as different kinds of producers of energy. We discuss the importance and benefits of having active and aware people to participate in the behavior of these grids, and their potential contributions to overall system resilience. The key learning points are that (1) energy grids are in a transition period and may—in this interim stage—suffer from less overall stability; (2) the resilient operation of energy grids strongly depends on increasingly active behavior of prosumers—i.e., consumers that are capable of producing electricity locally; and (3) we need expedient strategies and strong data infrastructures to support these prosumers in taking on an increasingly important responsibility in the context of power grid operations. Toward this end, we explore strategies for encouraging people to participate in processes that may help the grid in its interim stage and elaborate on the roles of energy grid data and the energy-related knowledge or these prosumers for supporting these strategies. Finally, we detail potential futures for enabling resilient energy grids through resilient people.
