What would Smart Grids be without Microsoft?

AREVA T&D (Transmission and Distribution division) announced on May 12, 2009, the extension of a 3-year long collaboration with Microsoft to develop Smarter Grid Management solutions to help the worldwide power industry to provide reliable power. AREVA T&D sees Microsoft as a strategic partner for smart grid solutions.

Click HERE for AREVA's press release.

I am not surprised that Microsoft tries to stick the nose into the tent of the electric power system's automation and control solutions. By the way, Microsoft has taken a very active role already: There are so many Microsoft Office Power Point slides discussing the Smart Grids and Smarter Grids available on the Web - paper doesn't blush.

In some years we will see how much smarter the grid will be as today. The smartness has to be found first at the side of human beings - then we may use tools (like ...) for devices and systems.

Do all these myriads of tools help us? Yes, if ... No, if ...

You may like the following sayings (I read some time ... I do not know who wrote it first) which I use very often:

A fool with a tool is still a fool; and 
A fool with a tool can foul up projects faster than a fool without a tool.

One of the crucial challenges in the domain of power delivery systems is to get more "non-fool" experts for the development of tools and for the use of tools. That requires EDUCATION. Isn't it?

Power delivery systems have provided us with reliable power for decades - without many "soft" tools ... talk to some well experienced senior engineers. The future of reliable and affordable power delivery systems will mainly depend on smart engineers that can judge to do the right things. Smart engineers are those that are well educated or got experience with bad judgements:

Tools are not a substitute for good judgment, and
Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment.