With the recent development of IoT, smart meter technology, and advanced weather forecasts by machine learning, we have the ability to analyze usage and load patterns and estimate future needs to help balance the electricity grid.

In most of the industrialized world the backbone of the power grids is over 50 years old.
“The more solar there is in any given mix of ‘fuels’ used to generate electricity, the harder it is to cope with the sudden arrival of a cloud,” writes Dr. Gretchen Bakke in her bestseller book: “The Grid.” She argues that “the grid is the weakest link. It isn’t made for modern power.”
One important recent addition to the grid, however, makes all the difference and provides invaluable data in real time, down to the individual user: the smart meter.
Now, the combination of data obtained in real time and historical usage from smart meters, paired with edge serves, cloud computing, and Machine Learning, can offer new insights and forecast, if not predict, what the demand will be in specific areas of grid, down to a city block.
FULL STORY: HOME Smart Meters and AI take on Electrical Grid Load Forecasting

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

Study: Maui’s Plan to Convert Vacation Rentals to Long-Term Housing Could Cause Nearly $1 Billion Economic Loss
The plan would reduce visitor accommodation by 25% resulting in 1,900 jobs lost.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Waymo Gets Permission to Map SF’s Market Street
If allowed to operate on the traffic-restricted street, Waymo’s autonomous taxis would have a leg up over ride-hailing competitors — and counter the city’s efforts to grow bike and pedestrian on the thoroughfare.

Parklet Symposium Highlights the Success of Shared Spaces
Parklets got a boost during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the concept was translated to outdoor dining programs that offered restaurants a lifeline during the shutdown.

Federal Homelessness Agency Places Entire Staff on Leave
The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness is the only federal agency dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness.
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