Newsletter – May 2014

THIS MONTH…..
–TRENDS
–EYE CATCHING
–ANNUAL PLAN
–DISCUSSIONS
–EXISTING CODE
–SECURITY
–LASTLY

–TRENDS
The stuff going on in the big picture now…..

United States Electricity Price per KWH
Current and Past

February	March	Trend	% Change
$0.134	$0.135	Increase	0.75%

Year	March	Trend	% Change	% Since
2004	$0.091	Same	0.00%	0.00%
2005	$0.094	Increase	3.30%	3.30%
2006	$0.109	Increase	15.96%	19.78%
2007	$0.113	Increase	3.67%	24.18%
2008	$0.116	Increase	2.65%	27.47%
2009	$0.126	Increase	8.62%	38.46%
2010	$0.125	Decrease	-0.79%	37.36%
2011	$0.127	Increase	1.60%	39.56%
2012	$0.127	Same	0.00%	39.56%
2013	$0.128	Increase	0.79%	40.66%
2014	$0.135	Increase	5.47%	48.35%

United Kingdom Utility Prices
Current and Past

–EYE CATCHING
The stuff that has caught our eye…..

Demand Response

• An article, considering the present capabilities of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and the needs of Demand Response (DR).
• A report, identifying 28% of mid-size companies are very interested in DR participation, but only 9% currently take advantage of DR programs.
• A press release, detailing the leading energy utility DR initiatives.
• A press release, announcing ecobee has received OpenADR 2.0b certification from the OpenADR Alliance.
• A presentation, sharing options to establish a solid business case for gaining Chief Financial Officer support of Demand-Side Management (DSM), which includes energy efficiency and DR.

Smart Grid – Consumer

• The Green Button Initiative, an industry led effort providing electricity customers with easy access to their energy usage data.
• An interview with Google, discussing some of their vision for the future of the Nest thermostat.
• An editorial, considering the challenges of customers’ acceptance of DR.
• A report, providing Smart Grid stakeholders an in-depth understanding of the needs of the low-income population.

Smart Grid – Producer

• An article, considering the bankruptcy of Energy Future Holdings.
• A report, finding air conditioning consumes 23% of the electricity in the United States.
• An article, considering how Google’s disdain for utilities could ruin their Nest acquisition.

Smart Grid – Security

• An article, considering how United States energy independence could change the world.
• A report, detailing many Connecticut utilities have been breached by cyber attacks.
• An article, considering privacy concerns with energy meters and government reporting on data privacy challenges.
• An article, reporting NIST wants to transition the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel from a government-funded public-private partnership to an industry led non-profit.
• An article, reporting the frailty of the national electrical grid is one of the leading security challenges to maintaining operation the national electrical grid.

–ANNUAL PLAN
Status Update of our 2014 Plan…..

Demand Response

• No other work since the April newsletter.

Unattended Server Side Automation

• No other work since the April newsletter.

Power Line Communication

• Further discussions with the members of the electronics industry.
• No other work since the January newsletter.

Talk to us with your comments and suggestions on our plan for this year.

–DISCUSSIONS
The stuff we are talking about now…..

PEELING THE ONION
Our decision to enter the Smart Grid arena originally seemed like a daunting task. We knew we had many technical standards to read, along with having many discussions with many different individuals and groups, in order to provide any form of viable assistance to the electric utility sector, for both the producer and consumer. We have received considerable interest from the Smart Grid community, desiring to use GNU remotecontrol with dynamic Demand Response. We are currently working through the architecture of providing dynamic Demand Response to the electric utility sector. We are somewhere between the conceptual and the logical steps in the architecture process. Research is still occurring, to determine an appropriate fit for development of the dynamic Demand Response we have envisioned.

We are mindful of the Theory of Constraints, as we work through the final steps in the architecture process. We recognize the Smart Grid is still forming and is changing by the minute. The building of the Smart Grid is still quite far off, as the design is not complete. The value of entering the Smart Grid arena now is being able to contribute to the design of the Smart Grid. Our eyes water, as we read, and read, and read … much like peeling an onion. The good news is people want to talk and the talk is producing a valuable result. The result is the stronger and strong potential of using GNU remotecontrol to execute dynamic Demand Response on the national electrical grid.

OTHER TYPES OF THERMOSTATS?
Many people have asked us about adding other types of thermostats to GNU remotecontrol. There are three questions that need to be answered before we can offer GNU remotecontrol support for any IP thermostat. These questions are:

• How to CONNECT to it (NETWORK).
• How to READ from it (CODE).
• How to WRITE to it (CODE).

It is our hope to have dozens and dozens of thermostat types that work with GNU remotecontrol. Let us know if you designed or manufactured a device and you would like to test it with GNU remotecontrol.

–EXISTING CODE
The stuff you may want to consider…..

BUGS
We have 0 new bugs and 1 fixed bugs since our last Blog posting. Please review these changes and apply to your GNU remotecontrol installation, as appropriate.

TASKS
We have 2 new tasks and 2 completed tasks since our last Blog posting. Please review these changes and apply to your GNU remotecontrol installation, as appropriate.

–SECURITY
The stuff you REALLY want to consider…..

2014 DATA BREACH INVESTIGATIONS REPORT
Verizon provides a report, detailing data breach investigations. The report identifies nine attack patterns, grouped by industry, making it easier to identify the types of threats one could encounter. They provide an illustration of the nine attack patterns.

REMEMBER
GNU remotecontrol relies on OS file access restrictions, Apache authentication, MySQL authentication, and SSL encryption to secure your data. Talk to us you want to find out how you can further strengthen the security of your system, or you have suggestions for improving the security of our current system architecture.

–LASTLY
Whatever you do…..don’t get beat up over your Energy Management strategy. GNU remotecontrol is here to help simplify your life, not make it more complicated. Talk to us if you are stuck or cannot figure out the best option for your GNU remotecontrol framework. The chances are the answer you need is something we have already worked through. We would be happy to help you by discussing your situation with you.

…..UNTIL NEXT MONTH!