The Roles of Customers, Utilities and Companies in Accelerating Smart Grid Implementation

This study addresses current situations and challenges surrounding the full implementation of the Smart Grid and presents wholistic ways going forward. Considering the challenges of environmental degradation, ageing infrastructures, increasing energy demands, high energy costs, sustainability, transparency and partial participation in the vertical power systems, a shift in the energy paradigm has been looked upon by the various stakeholders. An intelligent-based grid (Smart Grid) development is considered as sustainable alternative - with the confidence that the challenges concerned with traditional power systems will alleviate, and by including large renewable energy resources, energy cost will reduce, and system operation will become more secure and reliable by leveraging the various technologies that support full implementation of the new grid. Despite these promises and the availability of the important technologies for its realization, Smart Grid (SG) development has been slow and full implementation has not been realized in most countries where it is adopted. This paper presents a way forward by expositing the roles that Customers, Utilities and Companies could take as pacesetters in accelerating the implementation of the new technology solution.