We are living through an era you could call the electricity dilemma. On one hand, electricity remains a driving force of economic development. On the other hand, electrical infrastructure's reliance on fossil fuel sources is one of the major contributors to carbon pollution threatening the very existence of life on earth. Over 1.3 billion people still aren't connected to the grid because, primarily, of the cost and complexity. Nevertheless, electric power generation is expected to grow by 93 percent by 2040 and the vast majority of that growth will occur in non-OECD nations. We simply can't meet this anticipated demand the old-fashioned way.

Fortunately, Big Data and predictive analytics provide a way forward. These technologies, combined with real-time actuation & control of the power system what I call the Energy Internet of Things-will dramatically alter the future of electricity by enabling us to utilize our energy infrastructure in a more effective way.

The needs of the electric power industry are vastly different most other industries. Utilities provide an essential service to everyone within a service territory with a vital impact on public safety and well-being. The Department of Energy estimates that blackouts and power quality issues currently cost American businesses more than $100 billion each year.

To achieve the demanding levels of performance, utilities have focused on integrating multiple levels of redundancy and control. Peak power plants constitute about $400 Billion dollars worth of investment in the US alone, and are used on an average for about 50 hours in a year (<1 percent of the time). Utilities need these because they are proven (if inefficient) tools for counteracting temporal spikes in demand. Some of the objections to renewable sources like solar and wind have been because of the variability that they can introduce. Utilities have compensated for this uncertainty through buffering, brute-force engineering and deliberately circumscribing options for the sake of control and consistency.

An Energy Internet of Things changes this paradigm by providing utilities with real-time feedback and insight for the first time. Simply put, utilities are finally able to know what their customers are doing and what they want, and are able to make better decisions to serve them.Blackouts become less frequent as predictability replaces uncertainty.