Assessment of Communication Technologies for a Consumer Portal

While the benefits of implementing a standardized consumer portal for the power industry are widely recognized, the cost of a communications network capable of reaching and managing millions of portals has been generally considered prohibitive. A debate continues whether such a network can be created. This paper and presentation attempt to provide fresh fuel for this debate. They summarize a recent assessment of communications technologies capable of connecting consumer portals to the power system control network, and to sensors and other equipment within the customer site. The assessment shows that the technology exists to make consumer portals feasible, although to make them cost-effective requires making use of infrastructure from other industries