Bob Leigh of LocalGrid Technologies, a solution provider at the marcus evans Distribution Technology & Innovation Summit 2014, on what power generation and transmission will look like in the future. Interview with: Bob Leigh, President & Chief Executive Officer, LocalGrid Technologies

1. Interview with: Bob Leigh,
President & Chief Executive Officer,
LocalGrid Technologies
“Occasional power outages may have
been acceptable a few decades ago, but
now outages can be more frequent, due
to aging infrastructure, and the
economic impact higher. Utilities need
to focus their effort on providing reliable
and fault tolerant power,” says Bob
Leigh, President & Chief Executive
Officer, LocalGrid Technologies. Leigh
expects a decentralized MicroGrid,
renewable energy and storage to play a
big role in that.
LocalGrid Technologies is a solution
provider at the marcus evans
D is t ri b u t i o n T e c h n ol o g y &
Innovation Summit 2014, in Dallas,
Texas, 31 March - 1 April.
Why are traditional power grid
approaches inefficient?
They rely on infrastructure designed to
generate power in a central location and
distributed across long distances to our
homes and communities. The problem is
that they do not support distributed
generation and renewable energy in an
efficient way and it is difficult to adapt
them to changes in growth patterns and
usage.
What is the solution?
A decentralized MicroGrid, which would
allow electrical utilities to even out
power generation, increase grid
efficiency and results, and better
support renewable energy as a
generation source. It is about making
the grid efficient in the way it produces
and distributes power, and optimizing
the energy flow on a local and regional
level. Network -enabled quality
management systems can be utilized to
b e t t e r u n d e r s t a n d l o a d - s i d e
requirements and adjust power delivery
in near-real time.
Getting the information is one of the
biggest challenges in power manage-
ment. On a MicroGrid even more data is
required, and faster, because you need
to be able to plan and react quickly. The
infrastructure has been cost prohibitive
until now and only when utilities need to
replace expensive assets do they start
considering the alternatives.
The advantage of a distributed
MicroGrid system is that it is more
flexible and scalable, in terms of being
able to add and remove nodes and
manage information flow, but this adds
the challenge of getting the existing and
new infrastructure to communicate with
each other, which is where adopting
common standards can help.
Could the system avoid costly
outages?
We recently had a once-in-every-five-
decades rainfall in Toronto, leaving half
the city without power as the
substations were flooded. While the
substations were getting repaired,
utilities were challenged with how they
could redirect power to get people back
online. Some people were without
power for a few days. If the system had
been designed around MicroGrids or a
more regional topology, we may not be
so dependent on these large
substations, and some people could
have received power from local solar,
storage or wind sources. Currently, if
the main infrastructure goes down,
nothing can be done until it is repaired.
Utilities have invested in transmission
and distribution infrastructure to
handle peak demand and be ready for
the worst case scenario, but the
capacity that has been built is much
larger than what is needed on average.
Is that the most efficient to deliver
power? If we need to rebuild or replace
that aging infrastructure over the next
decade or so, it will cost trillions of
dollars. Alternatively, traditional
centralized generation could be made to
handle baseload power requirements,
with alternative energy sources, such as
solar, biogas and other distributed
sources local to the consumer, used to
support peak demand. This could lead
to saving in the transmission system
infrastructure.
Any final comments?
Look at your grid and what service
quality is needed to provide for your
customers in the future. To me, a
distribution company in the past
primarily had to maintain the wires, but
the company of the future is going to be
operating the grid much more pro-
actively.
The
distribution
company of
the future is
going to be
operating
the grid
much more
pro-actively
Reliable Power:
Why MicroGrids are the Answer

2. The Energy Network - marcus
evans Summits group delivers
peer-to-peer information on
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About the Distribution Technology & Innovation Summit 2014
This unique forum will take place at The Westin Stonebriar, Dallas, Texas, 31
March - 1 April 2014. Offering much more than any conference, exhibition or trade
show, this exclusive meeting will bring together esteemed industry thought leaders
and solution providers to a highly focused and interactive networking event.
www.dti-summit.com
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About LocalGrid Technologies
LocalGrid delivers secure, embedded software for an intelligent Distribution Grid.
LocalGrid delivers solutions for utilities and grid operators and our eGridOS™ software provides data collection, real-time analytics
and control over a secure distributed network. Our solutions maximize the use of existing energy assets and enable more
renewable generation on the grid for a fraction of new infrastructure costs.
www.localgridtech.com
About marcus evans Summits
marcus evans Summits are high level business forums for the world’s leading decision-makers to meet, learn and discuss
strategies and solutions. Held at exclusive locations around the world, these events provide attendees with a unique opportunity to
individually tailor their schedules of keynote presentations, case studies, roundtables and one-on-one business meetings.
For more information, please visit: www.marcusevans.com
Upcoming Events
Petrochemical & Refining Summit - www.petrochemicalrefiningsummit.com
Power Plant Management & Generation Summit - www.ppmgsummit.com
Wind Power Summit - www.windpower-summit.com
To view the web version of this interview, please click here: www.dti-summit.com/BobLeigh