Management Information System
Case Study 1
1. How do smart grids differ from the current electricity infrastructure in the United States?
A smart grid delivers electricity from suppliers to consumers using digital technology to • save energy
• reduce costs
• increase reliability and transparency
Current electricity grids do not provide any information about how consumers actually use energy. Without useful system offers few ways to handle power provided by alternative energy sources. Without useful information, energy companies and consumers have difficulty making good decisions about using energy wisely.
2. What management, organization, and technology issues should be considered when developing a smart grid?
Information feedback would allow consumers to see how much energy they are consuming at any moment and how much it’s costing them. That would allow them to make better decisions about using appliances like air conditioners and furnaces. They could potentially lower their energy bills. Operating budgets and profits would be severely impacted if consumers greatly reduced their energy consumption. Implementation costs would be extremely high, even with federal government assistance. Communications systems to relay data along the entire energy supply system, and systems linked to programmable appliances to run them when energy is least costly.
3. What challenge to the development of smart grids do you think is most likely to hamper their development?
Some challenges to the development of smart grids include:
• Changing the infrastructure of the entire electric grid across the nation
• Installing two-way meters that allow information to flow both to and from homes and businesses
• Creating dashboards that are user-friendly
• Extremely high costs of retrofitting the entire grid infrastructure, estimated to be as high as $75 billion
• Potential intrusiveness of new technology
4.What other areas of our infrastructure could benefit from ‘smart’ technologies? Describe one
1. How do smart grids differ from the current electricity infrastructure in the United States?
A smart grid delivers electricity from suppliers to consumers using digital technology to • save energy
• reduce costs
• increase reliability and transparency
Current electricity grids do not provide any information about how consumers actually use energy. Without useful system offers few ways to handle power provided by alternative energy sources. Without useful information, energy companies and consumers have difficulty making good decisions about using energy wisely.
2. What management, organization, and technology issues should be considered when developing a smart grid?
Information feedback would allow consumers to see how much energy they are consuming at any moment and how much it’s costing them. That would allow them to make better decisions about using appliances like air conditioners and furnaces. They could potentially lower their energy bills. Operating budgets and profits would be severely impacted if consumers greatly reduced their energy consumption. Implementation costs would be extremely high, even with federal government assistance. Communications systems to relay data along the entire energy supply system, and systems linked to programmable appliances to run them when energy is least costly.
3. What challenge to the development of smart grids do you think is most likely to hamper their development?
Some challenges to the development of smart grids include:
• Changing the infrastructure of the entire electric grid across the nation
• Installing two-way meters that allow information to flow both to and from homes and businesses
• Creating dashboards that are user-friendly
• Extremely high costs of retrofitting the entire grid infrastructure, estimated to be as high as $75 billion
• Potential intrusiveness of new technology
4.What other areas of our infrastructure could benefit from ‘smart’ technologies? Describe one