–by Steve Jung —

OPALCO has been good to me. I’ve been impressed with the reliability and relatively low cost of the primarily “green” electricity it delivers to the home my wife and I built on Orcas Island 15 years ago. Furthermore, I’ve welcomed the arrival of truly fast broadband internet access as a result of the utility’s decision to utilize its fiber optic cable network for that purpose. It’s good for our first responders, our safety, and our economy, and, yes, it allows us to live as if we are in the mainstream of modern life rather than a backwater.

I have, however, been dubious about OPALCO’s claim that broadband internet is purely a side benefit of its buildout of the fiber network, and that therefore the costs of that buildout should be borne primarily by electricity users. Is it true, I wondered, that our utility coop would have shouldered the very considerable costs of creating this fiber network whether or not it could be used for broadband?

A few months ago, I happened to express this question in the presence of an OPALCO representative, and before long I was invited to a meeting at the OPALCO offices on Orcas. There I was introduced to Vince Dauciunas, a member of the Board of Directors and an electrical engineer with impressive credentials in the theory and practice of electrical power generation and transmission. Vince proceeded to educate me in what has become known as “smart grid” technology.

I don’t pretend to have retained all that Vince explained to me. But much of it can be found at this website provided by the Bonneville Power Authority:  https://www.bpa.gov/projects/initiatives/smartgrid/Pages/default.aspx. I came to understand that smart meters, interactive and automated control of power distribution and other intelligent energy technologies can not only improve energy efficiency, reduce power costs, and lower greenhouse gas emissions, they are absolutely essential for the operation of any grid that hopes to incorporate distributed power generation (think solar, wind) and storage (think batteries). Vince’s final point sealed the deal for me:  every single one of the 186 investor-owned electric utilities in the United States is currently implementing smart grid technology, as are most publicly-owned utilities! Guided by these facts, OPALCO made its decision to install and operate a smart grid on our islands well before the use of fiber optic cable to provide broadband internet was even contemplated.

I pass this information along here in the hopes that it will help others who may have the same question I had. I do it without any desire (or intent) to get enmeshed in the occasionally ill-mannered “debate” that has gone on around OPALCO’s rates and the methods in which the coop has sought to provide broadband internet service. I will say that I’m personally glad OPALCO management stepped to the plate to shoulder this responsibility. And I look forward to the day when we will all benefit from living on a “connected” island, and when most people understand how lucky we’ve been to get there.

Steve Jung lives in Olga

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