Collaborative Research: The Adoption of an Emerging Technology for Improving the Electrical Delivery System

Brown University, Providence RI

Investigators

Abstract

This collaborative project will study the "smart grid" - with advanced- or "smart" metering technologies at its core and its adoption by communities seeking a more efficient, responsive, and sustainable energy system. Smart meter implementation across the U.S. has been intermittent and uneven and the reasons for this are poorly understood. This study will explore the impacts of the new technology, and the social and institutional dynamics that facilitate and impede its implementation at different levels of social organization. The project will synthesis field theory and transition theory to understand smart meter implementation, and more broadly, the transformation of the American electricity system. It is significant because it will contribute to our understanding of the rapidly evolving smart meter field and of energy transitions more generally. The proposed research will benefit society because it will provide practitioners, policymakers, and researchers with insight into the field-level factors and processes that facilitate and impede the implementation of smart meters - widely seen as key to an efficient, secure, and sustainable energy system in the 21st century. The proposed study examines relational dynamics in an emerging sociotechnical field, focusing on the case of smart meters. The objective of the proposed research is to investigate inter-organizational conflict and cooperation that have led to the uneven development of smart metering systems. The study proposes a nested research design and triangulated multi-method approach aiming to 1) investigate inter-organizational relations that structure and produce a state's contemporary smart meter field; 2) conduct in-depth studies of four smart meter projects that illustrate different successes and failures; and 3) build and analyze a quantitative dataset containing national- and state-level information on smart meter implementation and its relationship to public and private funding, knowledge production, technological innovation, and governance. Results will be disseminated to practitioners, including interview partners in government, private businesses, and utility companies. When complete, the quantitative dataset and related metadata will be also made available to interested individuals through the project website.