Visions of smart grids in Canada: capturing the 'pulse' of the nation through the media. Alexandra Mallett, Ryan Reiber & Danny Rosenbloom

Transcription

1 Visions of smart grids in Canada: capturing the 'pulse' of the nation through the media Alexandra Mallett, Ryan Reiber & Danny Rosenbloom

2 Background With ongoing smart grid deployment, public discourse around smart grid has intensified Controversies, opportunities and key issues have emerged: radiation risks, siting of renewable energy sources, privacy concerns, energy cost-savings, etc. Public perceptions and acceptance a challenge for deployment and policy development Understanding of how the smart grid concept is being framed and perceived will be needed

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6 Methodology National level media analysis of smart grid development Objectives: Understand context of smart grid development Uncover most salient issues, common frames, prominent actors, how issues have evolved over time, key areas of contention and convergence, etc. Help get a sense of public opinion / influencers Lay foundation for future work Link up with US colleagues for comparison

7 Research Questions How prevalent is this issue? Visions of what is a smart grid? Who are some of the key actors? What are some of the key drivers? What are some of the key frames? How do these differ / change over time and by region? Media analysis mainly being done through assessing frequencies

8 Methodology Methods largely based on US media analysis Search Engine: Factiva Newspapers: Globe & Mail and National Post Date Range: January 1 st, 1990 to December 31 st, 2012 Content analysis software: NVivo 10 Keywords: smart grid, smart electric grid, smart electricity grid, smart meter, smart meters, smart metering

9 Methodology Number of Articles by Source Total National Post Globe & Mail

10 Methodology Number of Articles by Category Categorized articles: A: primarily about the smart grid or smart grid technologies B: discusses smart grid or an aspect in a subsection C: mentions the search term(s) without further information A & B articles coded 117 A B C 95

11 Methodology Coded articles for: Also tracked date of publication, regional focus, reference frames, and whether it was an oped or news piece.

12 Methodology Reference frames: 1. Distributed generation 2. Renewables integration 3. Energy efficiency 4. Demand side management or demand response 5. Mandates and standards 6. Other Smart Grid

13 Most Frequent Terms america bills buildings business canada cents city companies conserving consumes costs customers' demand documented electricity energy filter gas generators governments greens grid homes hours hydro industry markets meters' million national needs new north ontario peaks people plans politics prices programs province rates reserved rights smart' system technology timing toronto utilities

14 Smart Grids vs. Smart Meters Smart meter Smart grid

15 Regional Focus British Columbia Ontario Quebec United States Canada International

16 Article Focus by Region British Columbia Ontario Quebec United States Canada International

17 Policies and Programs Negative Neutral Positive Negative Neutral Positive Negative Neutral Positive Negative Neutral Positive Negative Neutral Positive B.C. Smart Meter B.C. Carbon Tax FIT or GEGEA ON Smart Meter Quebec Smart Meter

18 Actors through Time Commercial or Industrial Residential Provincial Liberal Non Governmental Organizations Private Domestic Private Foreign Research and Academia Utility

19 Actors by Region British Columbia Ontario Quebec US Canada Global

20 Component Focus by Region British Columbia Ontario Quebec US Canada Global

21 Component Focus over Time Consumer appliances or electronics Electric Vehicles Non renewable Renewable Gen Unspecified ITC components Meter Storage Distribution Transmission T&D Unspecified

22 Key Triggers Time of use pricing Smart Meter Pilot Smart Meter Health Risks Rising electricity costs Ontario Smart Meter Initiative Ontario GEGEA & FIT Green Transition Energy Grid Innovation Energy Conservation 5 0

23 Framing over Time

24 Key Quotes Cultural Benefit The smart grid promises to create greater transparency into how electricity is consumed and give greater control over consumption to businesses and homeowners. But what the smart grid is doing is fundamentally changing that relationship to one that is more interactive, to where we are helping them understand and manage their energy consumption. Cultural Risk Sure they'll rent or perhaps even "give" you a smart meter, then they'll peek into your homes and your lifestyle and they'll be back to sell you "value added services," probably at supper time. These meters will cost Ontario taxpayers a fortune, accomplish little and drive the street value of cannabis even higher, giving growers and traffickers a big raise.

25 Key Quotes Economic Benefit "Everybody has the opportunity to lower their bills with the tools and products we are making available," Mr. Haines says. "They can invest in conservation and use energy at different times, which will reduce their bills, especially during peak periods, and invest in various technologies to help them do this. Economic Risk NDP energy critic John Horgan said time-of-use pricing would not lead to lower energy bills in B.C. because most families have few options about the timing of such routines as dinner, homework and bathing their children.

26 Key Quotes H&S Risk Many utilities are using wireless connections on smart-grid electrical meters, but the researchers said a better approach would be to avoid community-wide exposures to new sources of radio waves by using telephone lines and fibre-optic cables instead. Technological Risk He (Langford resident) blames a digital glitch or faulty meter for the high reading. How do they know someone with a cellphone wasn't walking by and set it off? he asked.

27 Framing by Region International Canada United States Quebec Ontario British Columbia 0

28 Framing by Actor Commercial or Industrial Residential Provincial Liberal Non Governmental Organizations Domestic Foreign Utility Cultural Benefit Cultural Neutral Cultural Risk Economic Benefit Economic Neutral Economic Risk Environmental Benefit Environmental Neutral Environmental Risk Health & Safety Benefit Health & Safety Neutral Health & Safety Risk Political Benefit Political Risk Technological Benefit Technological Neutral Technological Risk Political Neutral

29 Preliminary Conclusions Focus on smart meters over smart grid, Ontario Spike in smart grid interest in 2009 and smart meter interest in 2004, drop off in 2012 Driving force is conservation DSM-DR, energy efficiency, mandates & standards

30 Preliminary Conclusions Discourse centered around residential customers, provincial government, and utilities Framing Benefits > risks (except for the small H&S and political frames) Most risks associated with Liberal party and smart meter rollout

31 Future Research Why do we see spikes in 2004, 2009, and a drop in 2012? Policy Analysis? Focus groups/interviews?