utility
Feds’ Smart Grid Race Leaves Cybersecurity in the Dust
Amid the government-funded rush to upgrade America’s aging electric system to a “smart grid,” Threat Level is pondering a strange confluence of press releases this week by the White House and the University of Illinois. Tuesday morning President Obama, speaking at Florida Power and Light (FPL) facilities, announced $3.4 billion in grants to utility companies, municipal districts and manufacturers to spur a nationwide transition to smart grid technologies and fund other energy-saving initiatives as part of the economic stimulus package. FPL alone will receive $200 million to install 2.6 million smart meters and other technologies that promise to reduce energy costs for customers.
Continue reading »CRTC hearings, Day Two: ’strong words’
University of Ottawa student Frances Munn continues her coverage of the CRTC Network Management Hearings, as published on the Michael Geist blog . “Day two of the CRTC network management hearing featured some great presentations from the Open Internet Coalition, Zip.ca, CISP, and two knowledgeable individuals – Jean-Francois Mezei and Jason Roks,” says Geist, continuing »»» The presenters had some strong words about the lack of Canadian competition for high-speed Internet service, the debatable claims about the impact of P2P on congestion, and the overstated advertising claims. Unfortunately, it would appear once again that the Commission has accepted the ISP claims regarding congestion and network costs, leaving the panelists with the challenge of overcoming those basic assumptions That said, the day featured some startling revelations including Zip.ca’s Rob Hall stating that it is currently cheaper to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on postage to send DVDs via the mail, rather than distributing the same content electronically through the Internet given the bandwidth costs.
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