A French Blackout

Imagine that you’re an entrepreneur . . . spent much time and capital developing a product that does some good—in this case, saving customers energy and MONEY—and then getting a nasty-gram from the government saying, well, you owe the utility all the money that you had saved your consumers.

Believe it or not, this happened in France this summer to Voltalis, a smart grid start-up.  The engineers at Voltalis developed the Bluepod, a wireless transmitter that is centrally controlled to smart grid software.  One way in which the Bluepod works is that it shuts off air conditioners in homes or offices that are running unnecessarily, absolutely critical during those peak hours in the summer.  Through these Bluepods communicating with Voltalis’ central computer systems, the devices can save its customers up to 10% on their electricity bills.

Well, France’s central electricity regulating authority (the CRE) decided that Voltalis was a “free rider” and therefore, the company had to reimburse Electricitie de France (EDF).  Voltalis’ business model depends on grid operators to pay the firm for help in maintaining a balance between power supply and demand.  But according the CRE, Voltalis’ service was only possible because EDF was producing power in the first place . . . and a smart technology is skewered because business interests and the government have too cozy a relationship.

True, France has a solid foundation of energy independence—but the country’s reliance on nuclear energy also means they have to deal with the waste . . . although France has several decades to decide what to do with its La Hague disposal facility, long term storage of that nuclear waste is a festering issue.  It seems only logical that maximum efficiency of its power resources would only help France’s power providers and consumers in the long term.

Well, the CRE’s decision caused outrage among the French, who overall take pride their energy program . . . and while the government spins its wheels deciding how to accommodate smart grid technologies, Voltalis’ plight still gets press coverage outside of France.

And growing up, I always thought saving energy was a virtue.