TinyTim

The Smart Grid Gets Its Own ETF

Alan Y. - Good point. This ETF is less about the Smart Grid, a name it uses because of the huge hype around it, and more about renewable energy.
While the Smart Grid may encompass several technologies, from an investment standpoint, it's really just about smart meters, which is covered by 4 or 5 companies, only a few or which are pure plays.

Grid Connectivity: Invest in Alternative Energy's Missing Link

The US has been underbuilt in transmission lines since the mid '70's. The only reason things are still working is that gas fired plants can be built close to cities which is where the large demand is. I attribute the lack of lines to NIMBY, drop in energy use since the first gas crisis and environmental pressure. After 30 years, several utilities are now agitating for rate increases "to pay for more tranmission capacity."

"high-voltage, direct-current (HVDC) technology because it is ideallysuited for hooking up renewable energy sources located in remoteregions of the country."
a bit of a stretch. HVDC is good for moving large blocks of power over very long distances with no intermediary stations. a few RE sources won't cut it. The savings are slightly lower losses due to no "AC skin effect" and two conductors for DC instead of 3 phase AC. There aren't many HVDC in the US for these reasons. One is the Pacific Intertie. Most RE sources will require short & lower power lines.

"miles of new power lines are going to have to be built"
You bet, about 30 years worth.

"ACCC patented aluminum composite power line core that can transmit more power than regular copper lines."
you just blew your cred. The last copper transmission line was strung in the 30's from Boulder Dam to LA and I have a piece in my collection. Most high tension lines since then have been ACSR (aluminum conductor steel reinforced)-that would be a stranded steel core.

ACCC (aluminum conductor composite core) from CTC has a high temp, lower expansion coefficient, carbon-glass fiber core. Since the electrons are carried in the aluminum anyway, this is a specialty product for situations where sag is an issue.

3M has the same product, called ACCR (aluminum conductor composite reinforced). Also specialty product. Utility T&D engineers and lineman don't care too much for "new" stuff, especially when the old stuff works fine.

The main cost of transmission lines is the right of way and construction. Steel towers are cheap, conductors are cheap, disc insulators are cheap. What costs is the equipment at each end, like switchgear and transformers, especially for HVDC.
There are several suppliers for each and plenty of contractors and none is a pure play. The only domestic manufacturer of ACSR these days is Southwire. General Cable doesn't do overhead transmission. ABB & Siemens do many things besides substations.
Aluminum rod for ACSR would be a tiny fraction of production from Alcoa, etc.

Bottom line is even if utilities suddenly realize they need a lot more transmission capability, it will be so diverse and piecemeal, I don't see a play there.

As a desert dweller, I'm waiting for PV to hit rock bottom so I can achieve net zero after a decent payback period.

Chinese Rare Earth Rationing Shouldn't Sink Wind Power Sector

Glad you brought up the Tesla and AC Propulsion / EV-1 motors which specifically were designed to not use rare earth magnets for the availability reasons being discussed here as well as cost.

The Tesla seems to have little problem with performance.

Smart Grid: Powering Us Out of Recession

This is another uneducated article hyping the Smart Grid, for whatever reason.

The SmartGrid is just smartmeters so far. Without technology like SmartHome or rate incentives, most consumers will just ignore the info that smartmeters provide.
Many cars have electronic dashboards that provide a readout of instantaneous MPG. Do drivers use them to save money?

Let's not confuse energy storage and alternate energy technologies with the Smart Grid. The Smart Grid will do nothing to create base load or peaking capacity, nor will it provide any load leveling.

So far, this is the only article to make the sole accurate claim for the Smart Grid. It will do away with meter readers. I seriously doubt this will pull our economy out of its present predicament.

Regarding outages due to equipment tripping off line and the SmartGrid... LOL

Investing in Infrastructure

www.electricalworld.co.../
Electrical World magazine has been around since 1936
tdworld.com/
T&D mag has been around a while too.

article in todays SA: Emerging Market Infrastructure
seekingalpha.com/artic...

Investing in Infrastructure

As an old transmission & distribution guy, I can tell you that overhead transmission lines (and most overhead distribution lines) are exclusively bare aluminum (uninsulated). Underground and in-building wiring is mainly copper, but even here aluminum prevails for higher power circuits (check your breaker box). For years, the aluminum in high-tension transmission lines has been beefed up with a steel core for strength (ACSR-Alum Conductor-Steel Reinforced). Recently, non-metallic composite cores have been developed for temperature and weight improvement, as mentioned above. Utility engineers are not typically "early adopters", so I wouldn't hold my breath.

My point is copper companies wouldn't be a great utility infrastructure play. There's been very little comparative growth in US transmission lines since the '70's and the system is strained. The wire & cable divisions of the big 3 aluminum companies used to supply most bare aluminum conductor as a cheap way to move metal in the US. That would be Alcoa, Kaiser & Reynolds, also Alcan. Even if they still existed, they wouldn't be the pure play you're looking for.