Seattle City Councilmember Bruce Harrell

This afternoon (12/16/09), I issued a press release calling for a Smart Grid. Below is a post with more information.

System would save people money, modernize City Light’s basic infrastructure and increase reliability and conservation

SEATTLE – In an effort to position City Light on the cutting edge of customer service, Seattle City Councilmember Bruce Harrell has directed the Utility to develop a specific plan for the development of a Smart Grid in 2010. “I want a plan that puts the Full Council and the Executive in a position to make a funding decision for Smart Grid deployment by the middle of 2010,” says Councilmember Harrell. A Smart Grid basically adds two-way communication technology to the existing electrical grid where power and information can flow between the utility and the customer to create a system that operates more efficiently and reliably. It will also result in giving customers more control over their power consumption.

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Seattle City Light is uniquely positioned to provide low-cost, clean electricity to our customers—who own the public utility. Approximately 88.83% of Seattle City Light’s electricity generation is from hydro, a renewable energy. In comparison, about 50% of the United States electrical production comes from coal. The carbon footprint of coal is approximately 1000 grams of CO2 per kWh of electricity generated when compared to 10-30 grams of CO2 per kWh of electricity generated from hydro. Seattle City Light offers an average rate of 6.42 cents per kWh, compared to the national average of 9.7 cents per kWh. With the commitment Seattle and Washington state has demonstrated with the passage of I-937 in 2006 (3%-renewable energy of its load by 2012, 9%-renewable energy of its load by 2016, and 15%-renewable energy of its load by 2020) and Seattle City Light’s commitment with a 5-Year Conservation Plan to avoid 1 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, what is the next step to continue providing the lowest rates and the cleanest electricity in Seattle?

That next step is Smart Grid. IBM’s slogan is “building a smarter planet.” Smart grid is the answer for building a smarter Seattle. Smart grid is a revolutionary change in how a utility generates and distributes electricity. The revolution has begun, with a federal stimulus package of $3.4 billion for smart grid technology. From these funds, $9.6 million was granted to Seattle City Light and the University of Washington for the development of a “smart micro grid” on the Seattle campus. Consumer education and engaging the public on what exactly is a smart grid and how it helps residents is absolutely vital as we discuss the development of a smart grid. Continue Reading »

I am currently in the process of working with local high-speed Internet providers and the Office of Cable Communications to develop a “Project Share” program to help low-income residents receive access to affordable high-speed Internet service. For example and to use Comcast as an example, I want to explore the possibility of soliciting from customers a small voluntary donation that can be used to help those who are unable to obtain Internet access. I have previously written about how Internet access is a potential gateway relative to education, job opportunities, training, networking and economic growth.

I will request the Department of Information Technology via a Statement of Legislative Intent (SLI) during this year’s budget to report back to Council next year on the implementation of this new program.

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I presented legislation today, 9/28/09, at Full Council to improve the City’s response to information and service requests from the public. The Council approved Council Bill 116638, lifting a budget proviso restricting expenditures in the 2009 budget for a Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) System. A CRM System is a central management system for recording, assigning, tracking, and reporting of customer service requests from the public. It will improve the City’s customer service system in receiving constituents’ requests, expedite assignment to the appropriate city personnel, and allow the constituent to track the progress of the request and ensure that the request was completed.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 8, 2009

Councilmember Harrell announces technology initiatives for 2010
Plan aims to improve city’s accountability, transparency, and effectiveness

SEATTLE – Councilmember Bruce Harrell, Chair of the Energy and Technology Committee, today proposed a Government and Technology outline that will optimize the use of technology, resulting in increased transparency, enhanced access to customer service and city information, and improved government effectiveness and efficiency.

The initiatives were developed after reviewing the city’s technology, governmental systems and protocols. The next step involves the Department of Information Technology and the Citizens’ Telecommunications and Technology Advisory Board working with other city departments to provide feedback on the recommendations.

“I am proposing the applications that I believe we should use internally and support externally, both of which can determine the effectiveness of service to our citizens,” said Harrell.

The Seattle Government and Technology outline calls on the city to implement the following in the coming years:

1. Migrate to a system where publishing and release of city data are in an open format that is more readable and favorable for programming. This allows the public to use city data in the most appropriate way and enhance its original purpose by allowing data collaboration and integration through mashups and semantic web technologies.

2. Declare an “Apps for Seattle” contest and call upon local web developers to program innovative mobile applications and Internet-based applications using open city data.

3. Provide service for mobile phone applications that allow residents to report a city complaint such as potholes, graffiti, streetlight outage, or abandoned vehicles.

4. Use web video conferencing tools for meetings conducted by employees, boards and commissions, resulting in reduced travel time, cost and fuel.

5. Provide residents with new personal conservation management tools that allow them to maximize their home energy efficiency.

6. Provide a suite of applications and products that allow residents and businesses to communicate remotely with their security, heating, cooling, and lighting systems. This will increase consumer utilization and awareness of a smart grid network.

7. Deploy a “My.Seattle.gov” Public Engagement Portal that consolidates the city’s multiple sign on accounts and provides single sign-on access with features including a customizable interface, status report checks on problems reported, public polling, and enhanced collaboration with the public using tools such as IdeaScale or Google Moderator.

8. Maximize the use of technology in reporting, posting, and tracking photos of graffiti and tree inventory on Google Maps or the city’s Geographic Information System (GIS).

9. Develop a “Wiki” website format for city information that allows online public collaboration, editing and content moderation.

10. Implement new city-wide software to reduce the volumes of wasted printed pages at the end of print jobs from the Internet.

“These technology initiatives will engage our local high-tech industry and spur entrepreneurs and development of business,” said Councilmember Harrell. “Now, more than ever, we must embrace the use of new technology as a strategic tool to better communicate with residents, drive innovation and economic development in our local workforce and save money by improving operational efficiencies in governmental systems. I look forward to working with our Citizens’ Telecommunications and Technology Advisory Board to help drive the process of moving forward in 2010.”

Additional information regarding “Apps for Seattle” will soon follow.

It is well known that our city is a world leader in technology and innovation. We have an opportunity to broaden that distinction with our innovative use of solar energy. Currently, City Light has approximately 180 customers who have installed a solar energy-generating infrastructure in their home. These kinds of systems can cost $16,000-$30,000 which is one reason why it is not more widespread. I would like to see wider use of solar energy in our city.

At the August 5, 2009, Energy and Technology Committee (ETC) meeting, I requested that City Light present a briefing on Seattle becoming one of 25 “Solar America Cities” under the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Solar America Initiative. The objective of the Seattle Solar Initiative is to overcome the barriers to implementation of widespread solar energy technology and to increase residential, commercial, city-owned and community solar energy use.

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