news.com’s greentech has a post on the potential for Smart-Grid to be a Bubble.

Is smart grid the next green-tech bubble?

by Martin LaMonica

WASHINGTON--Here at a conference on the utility of the future, the starring players are Google, IBM, Cisco Systems, Intel, and smart grid start-ups. The reason? Data.

Modernizing the grid isn't just about installing more transmissions lines and smart meters. It's a giant information challenge as well, said attendees of consulting firm Kema's Utility of the Future conference here on Thursday.

The heavyweight IT companies are seeking to capitalize on initiatives around the world to upgrade the power infrastructure. The U.S. Department of Energy is expected to soon announce how billions of dollars in stimulus money for smart grid will be allocated.

Smart grid has also become one of clean-tech venture capitalists' favorite areas, spawning dozens of start-ups with ways to make the grid run more efficiently and integrate more solar and wind power.

Altogether, it's a combination that could end up creating a bubble, said Diana Propper, a clean-tech venture capitalist at Expansion Capital Partners.

"I worry that there's so much money being sloshed around, whether it's venture capital or corporate or government money, that it will be spent inefficiently," she said during a panel. "The risk of a bubble is real."

And, the vendors see the opportunity as data increases.

Koch added that the stepped-up presence of IBM, Cisco, Intel, and Google in the utility industry could stiffen competition for smaller firms.

Data overload
To understand the interest of the major IT companies in the smart grid, consider Duke Energy's program.

It has 5 million meters installed in its territory and each customer has a few major appliances, such as water heaters and refrigerators. Each one of those devices--in addition to hundreds of thousands of sensors on the distribution grid--could be networked.

To collect and make sense of the mountains of data these devices produce requires a robust network and sophisticated IT systems.

"Just the number of devices to be connected and the volume of data that needs to be processed--it's enormous," said David Mohler, the chief technology officer of Duke Energy. "We realized early on that we needed to create an information architecture. That's not a utility's sweet spot."

Instead, the utility contracted with Cisco to build that data communications network. Duke is already testing smart-grid technology and plans larger-scale deployments in Ohio and Indiana starting at the fourth quarter of this year.

Home energy management is another important piece of smart-grid programs. Microsoft and Cisco as well as telecom companies, such as Verizon, have said they expect to make energy monitoring an extension of existing home networks.

Here in the US, I am waiting for the attorneys to jump on the privacy issues monitoring people’s power consumption.  Can you imagine the legal release required to give utilities permission to use your data, store it, and share it with others.

Newsweek has an article about why laptops batteries don’t last as long as manufacturer’s claims. The article starts with the problem of who defines the metrics for laptop batteries.

Daniel Lyons

Hurry Up and Type

Why your laptop runs out of juice so fast.

Published Jun 18, 2009

From the magazine issue dated Jun 29, 2009

Imagine if automakers got together and started measuring the gas mileage of new cars with a cool test of their own making—one in which the cars were rolling downhill with their engines idling. Suddenly you'd have some pretty amazing claims: Why, that three-ton SUV gets 300 miles per gallon! This subcompact gets 500! In tiny print at the bottom of the window sticker you'd find a disclaimer saying that, well, um, you know, your mileage may vary.

Crazy, right? Yet that's more or less what's happening with laptop computers and their battery lives. Right now, I'm looking at a Best Buy flier touting a $599 Dell laptop that gets "up to 5 hours and 40 minutes of battery life." Down in the fine print comes a disclaimer explaining that "battery life will vary" based on a bunch of factors. Translation: you ain't gonna get five hours and 40 minutes, bub. Not ever. Not even close.

The specific benchmark referenced is the MobileMark 2007.

So how can Dell and Best Buy make that claim? These battery-life numbers are based on a benchmark test called MobileMark 2007 (MM07). The test was created by a consortium called BAPCo (Business Application Performance Corp.), whose members are—you guessed it—computer makers and other tech companies. AMD, the No. 2 maker of microprocessors, is a member of BAPCo, but now has become a whistle-blower. AMD says PC makers know full well that the new tests produce misleading numbers, but they are touting them anyway.

Any experienced Technology person has learned to ignore most benchmarks as they are easy to be gamed, and there is requirement for the vendors to be transparent in how they achieve their results.

So, what about energy efficiency and power saving claims from server and data center vendors. Many are taking advantage of the lack of benchmarks for power saving claims.  Who has the capability to measure the range of vendors?

And, even if there is a benchmark how do users know how the tests were performed.  in this economy, it is easy for executives to make the decision and take the risk to overstate efficiency as customers look for ways to save money.

What do you do?  Ask for more information on how performance tests were run. Can you get a copy of the test results? What is the range of expected results? What factors most influence the results? How close do the test conditions match your conditions?

Benchmarks and metrics are good, but are too easy to be used to overstate claims without an auditing infrastructure.  Watch out for metrics without 3rd party validation.