Smart Grid & E4S

You’ll save energy… but your power bill is going to get a lot more complicated.

This is The Environment Report. I’m Lester Graham.

You’ve probably heard of the Smart Grid, but if you’re like me, you’ve only got the vaguest idea of what it is. Basically… it’ll mean the power companies we’ll be able to monitor power use better… to avoid things like black outs… but it’ll also be able to tell you in real time how much power you’re using.

We caught Brian Seal on his cell phone at the airport in Atlanta just before he boarded a plane. He’s with the non-profit Electric Power Research Institute. He says eventually… you’ll be charged different rates at different times of the day…depending on demand.

“Consumers would be aware of that so that they can program their appliances and other equipment to consume energy when the price is low rather than when it’s high.”

But you’ll need Smart Appliances to work with a Smart Grid. Well G-E just announced it’ll be coming out with Smart Appliances right as the government announced three-point-four billion dollars in grants to power companies to start working on a Smart Grid.
You can bet the other appliance makers are scrambling to come up with their own programmable appliances.

(((STING)))
This is The Environment Report.

Businesses also want to become more energy efficient and reduce waste. Bottom line: it saves them money. But… many want to go even further to become more environmentally-friendly. They’re just not sure how go about it. Julie Grant reports about groups that are working to help businesses to move toward sustainability.

[SOUND: PARTY]
This party is full of business owners, union leaders, MBA students – and lots of other folks interested in figuring how to run successful companies – that aren’t bad for the environment. Holly Harlan has been hosting these kinds of gatherings for nearly a decade.
She has literally made it her job to assist companies to take steps toward sustainability. She started this group – Entrepreneurs for Sustainability - known as E-4-S - back in 2000.
Most of the companies she heard from then were starting to offer green products and services – green cleaning, green lawn care, and solar panels.
HARLAN: WHEREAS, COMPANIES LIKE G-E AND WALMART, CERTAINLY THIS WASN’T ON THEIR RADAR IN 2000. BUT AROUND 2006, THEN WE STARTED HEARING MORE ABOUT EXISTING BUSINESSES THAT WANTED TO CHANGE. [:11]
Harlan says E4S wanted find ways to assist those already established companies to make changes.
[SOUND: PARTY/ SPEECH]
E4S parties aren’t just for networking. They have an informational component. This one is focused on solar panel installations for businesses. Harlan is trying to give business leaders more information about whether it’s a good energy strategy for their factories, banks and start-up companies:
HARLAN: ///AND PROVIDING PEOPLE THE OPPORTUNITY, I SAY, KICK THE TIRES AND REALLY FIGURE OUT IS THIS WORTH – SOMETHING FOR MY BUSINESS TO INVEST IN? [:07]

Sustainable business groups like E4S have been forming in cities around the country in recent years.
Jeff Krejci is with Interface carpet company – which has been working toward becoming a green business for many years. He says the business community needs independent groups like Entrepreneurs for Sustainability :
KREJCI: AND IT’S INTERESTING. EVERYBODY’S READING IT. YOU HEAR IT. IT’S ON EVERY BILLBOARD. BUT PEOPLE REALLY WANT TO KNOW – WHAT DOES SUSTAINABILITY MEAN? AND THERE’S REALLY NOT A WHOLE LOT OF PLACES YOU CAN TURN TO. YOU CAN GO ONLINE. GO ON WEBSITES. BUT STILL, IT’S EVERYBODY TRYING TO PROMOTE THEIR OWN PRODUCT. [:14]
The Sustainabilty groups want businesses to see that they can reduce their costs – while doing better for the environment and society.
Before she started E4S, Holly Harlan worked in industrial engineering and economic development. But once she heard about companies designing their processes more efficiently, more sustainably – her own light turned on.
HARLAN: I SUDDENLY SAW OPPORTUNITIES EVERYWHERE. EVERYPLACE THAT I VISITED. FROM MUSEUMS, HOTELS, RESTAURANTS, MANUFACTURING COMPANIES. PLACES TO SAVE MONEY AND PLACES TO MAKE MONEY. BECAUSE I SAW THE WORLD DIFFERENTLY. [:12]
Now Harlan is trying to get more people to see through these new glasses. To provide a better quality of life in the future – and make good economic decisions today.