UNCLE!!!

I give up. I’m a self-avowed geek but I can’t keep up anymore. Where once I was the go-to person for all things software and electronics, now days I am as confused as the person who brought me the problem.

Things are changing faster than anyone expected. Even those who are still tuned into the latest and greatest electronic technology are finding themselves overwhelmed. Buy it today, its obsolete tomorrow.

A new term, “cloud computing” is the ability to share internet resources, much like how the electric grid is connected throughout the United States. Since the interconnected grid works fairly well, cloud computing is logical. Cloud computing takes a company away from the private network set up and uses spatial global access. I know “cloud computing” is a metaphor but it’s a lot like my car. I don’t want to know how it works; I want to get in the car, turn the key, and go. But I like the idea of the Internet being “everywhere”…but the questions is “how much does that cost?”

Now we have “crowd-sourcing” which provides civic participation in GIS mapping, central databases, and software programming. I can see the benefits but Dawson Power is not interested in sharing our databases or the map of our distribution system. We believe in customer privacy. Still, this thing we call a smart grid is leaning that way so now we have to look at security options to protect customer data – and we will not proceed without security. The best thing about smart grid will be the control it gives our customers over their energy usage.

Eventually, Dawson Power will move to a smart grid and that just might require the “everywhere internet”. Some people have concerns about losing privacy about how or when they use electricity. Keep in mind that we don’t necessarily care about individual customer usage; however Dawson Power is interested in collective usage (by substation) so we can make better decisions on purchasing power or increased demand in that particular area.

I’m still giving up. Call it wisdom. I’m going from the “gotta be the first” to “prove the technology” user. I want proven technology for our customers. Bottom line: whatever Dawson Power does in the future MUST BE something our customers can and will USE.