A3StormDrain

A3StormDrain

To-Do

Please answer the following questions about the article: what did you find interesting? what did you find not find interesting? what did you not understand? what did you learn (if anything) reading the article?

After reading this there were a couple of different things that we found interesting. We all thought it was pretty cool that Boulder is in fact the first city to try out a smart grid. It's great that the city we are all living in is the first one to try what sounds like a great program to better energy consumption. Though it is cool, it seems like a really big undertaking. Of course it is easy to talk about, but implementing it is another story. The plan as a whole is a complete overhaul of the power infrastructure. Yes it is for the best, but to get there we are going to have to spend a lot of money and do a lot of work. The idea is great, but overall there are a lot of road blocks in the way. Also it's a really cool idea to have some sort of competition with rewards for saving power. Everyone loves competitions, so why have one where everyone, including the earth wins!

One thing that we didn't really understand is why power companies are funding this change. Morally, it is something they should be doing, but it doesn't seem profitable for them. The smart grid system as a whole seems great for the consumer. It tells them where they can make improvements and in the end, use less power. The less power they use though, the less the power company makes. Overall

We learned that one of the major challenges with smart grid technology and sustainable is having social cooperation with energy usage and grid design. There are many challenges that need to be overcome to make the smart grid work, but it's looking like our future.

Based on an exploration of the web, scientific articles, newspaper stories, ….. ? Write a Short Essay (about 1 page) about an interesting question / website related to one or more of the themes: Energy Sustainability, Smart Meters, Smart Grid

Briefly describe your own interests, experiences, actions, changes in your behavior (if any) related to “energy awareness”!