Smart grid: An electricity market perspective

A vision of the smart grid as an agent of economic value creation is needed to understand the paradigm shift that will be unfolding over the next few decades in the electricity market. This paper presents one such vision of the smart grid from an electricity market perspective and discusses its technical underpinnings. In contrast with the current mix of traditional and renewable resources, the smart grid is envisioned to be ultimately based on 100% renewable resources with end-to-end direct transactions between producers and consumers facilitated by one or more connectivity provider(s) much the same way e-commerce and other business transactions and interactions take place over the internet. These connectivity provider(s) will provide all necessary infrastructure for transmission and distribution of energy as well as the relevant information and data exchanges. Trading of power and various services based on allied information will enjoy internet-like market transparency and ease of execution.