New month, fresh insights into the future of renewable energy! As November begins, we’re excited to relaunch our popular Technology in Renewables series. With excellent feedback on past episodes, we’re back to bring you in-depth conversations with experts shaping the renewable energy and smart technology landscape. Each episode will feature leaders tackling the challenges and opportunities driving sustainable energy innovation.

In our first episode of the relaunched series, Codibly CEO, Bartosz Majewski, sits down with energy sector veteran Conrad Eustis. With a distinguished career spanning the Nuclear Navy, a PhD in cogeneration policy, and over three decades at Portland General Electric (PGE), Conrad has led significant energy innovations, including PGE’s first demand-side resource plan and smart meter system. His groundbreaking work on the CTA-2045 protocol — an advanced communication standard for appliances like water heaters—has been pivotal in enabling flexible load management, allowing appliances to shift energy usage to align with renewable energy availability.

Together, Bartosz and Conrad dive into the evolving role of CTA-2045 in improving grid communication, promoting interoperability, and supporting a smarter, more adaptable energy landscape. By enabling seamless, low cost, communication between appliances and the grid, CTA-2045 optimizes energy use for utilities and consumers, addressing critical energy management challenges and moving us closer to a future of fully interoperable systems.

Conrad Eustis’s extensive experience, from teaching smart grid design at Portland State University to participating in industry-defining initiatives, offers a unique perspective on creating a resilient and adaptable energy infrastructure. His insights underscore the importance of flexible load management and protocols like CTA-2045 for future energy resilience and consumer empowerment.

Key points of the discussion include:
  1. The Role of CTA-2045 in grid integration:
    • What is CTA-2045: Known as EcoPort, CTA-2045 is a standardized communication protocol for energy devices such as water heaters, HVAC systems, and other large-load appliances. It acts as a “socket” similar to a USB but for energy management. Once installed, it enables two-way communication between devices and the grid.
    • Purpose: CTA-2045 was created to address challenges in device-to-grid interoperability, improving how appliances respond to energy demand and supply signals. This helps optimize energy use, especially during periods of high renewable energy generation or grid demand.
  2. Addressing demand response and peak load:
    • Historical context: Eustis began work on demand response in 1993. Initially, demand response aimed to reduce peak load by enabling utilities to control energy demand, especially during extreme weather or high consumption periods. This approach has evolved into flexible load management, essential for a grid integrating high levels of intermittent renewables like solar and wind.
    • How CTA-2045 helps: The protocol allows appliances to “listen” to grid needs, automatically adjusting energy consumption. For example, water heaters can operate when excess renewable energy is available, reducing the grid’s reliance on fossil fuels and lowering carbon emissions without impacting the user’s comfort.
  3. Enhancing consumer experience:
    • Non-invasive and seamless operation: CTA-2045 is designed to be virtually invisible to consumers, meaning it doesn’t disrupt regular appliance usage. Once installed, devices can participate in grid programs without noticeable changes to performance or user experience.
    • Security and convenience: The modular nature of CTA-2045 reduces cybersecurity risks by isolating the communication component from the appliance itself. If needed, this module can be upgraded or replaced without affecting the appliance, addressing both functionality and security concerns.
  4. Advantages of Standardization and Scale:
    • Regulatory success in the Northwest: With regulatory support in states like Washington and Oregon, CTA-2045 compliance is now required for water heaters. This regulatory push has encouraged manufacturers to integrate the standard across product lines, setting a precedent for other states.
    • Adoption and scale potential: As utilities observe successful case studies, such as those in the Pacific Northwest, broader adoption of CTA-2045 is likely. The scalability is particularly important as it offers a universal approach to demand response that can be applied across the U.S. and potentially worldwide.
  5. Interoperability with Other Protocols:
    • Working with OpenADR and OCPP: CTA-2045 complements existing protocols like OpenADR (used for demand response in commercial buildings) and OCPP (for EV charging). By embedding CTA-2045 commands as a payload within OpenADR, it leverages existing communication structures, creating a unified and secure approach to managing grid-connected devices.
    • Compatibility with various communication networks: The standard can operate over diverse communication networks, including LTE, providing utilities with flexibility to avoid dependency on customer Wi-Fi networks, which are prone to changes.
  6. Consumer Accessibility and Social Justice:
    • Making smart appliances more accessible: Since CTA-2045-enabled appliances don’t rely on high-end features or Wi-Fi, they can be installed across a broad range of housing types, including rental properties. This opens demand response benefits to lower-income consumers and renters, promoting equitable access to energy-saving technologies.
    • Future possibilities: Eustis envisions a future where EcoPort adapters could be purchased by consumers in stores, making participation in demand response as simple as plugging in a device.
  7. Overcoming adoption barriers and next steps:
    • Economic and security benefits: By reducing the costs and logistical challenges associated with device installation, CTA-2045 makes grid integration more economically viable. In addition, the “socket” architecture enhances device security by isolating communication.
    • Regulatory and market adoption: Eustis emphasizes the role of regulatory policy and pilot projects as catalysts for adoption. He likens the process to a “when Harry met Sally” effect, where utilities become interested after observing the success of early adopters, thereby accelerating the protocol’s spread.
    • Global potential: CTA-2045’s universal appeal and the increasing need for grid flexibility suggest it could become a global standard, provided more regions and manufacturers recognize its benefits.

Explore this and other expert conversations in Codibly’s Technology in Renewables series, covering topics like demand response, smart grid integration, renewable energy standards, and e-mobility solutions. Watch more here.