Home

US announces $57 million in funding for smart grid initiatives

The US Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Monday announced $57 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for smart grid initiatives.

The funding will be split with $47 million going to eight smart grid projects across seven states and $10.5 million for local governments to develop emergency preparedness plans.

The $47 million funds will support demonstration-scale smart grid technologies, and adds to the $17 million awarded to these projects in 2008. The projects aims to modernise the grid, allowing greater integration of renewable energy sources while increasing the efficiency and reliability of the electricity transmission and distribution network.

“Modernizing our electrical grid to make it stronger, smarter, more efficient and more secure is a crucial step in expanding renewable energy and creating jobs,” said Chu.

The Department of Energy (DOE) also release its first Smart Grid System Report, which concludes that the adoption of smart grid technologies is growing significantly, although many are in their infancy.

The report also notes that broader deployment and implementation of smart grid technologies like smart metering will require cultural change.

The DOE hopes to at least partly foster that change with the development of a Smart Grid Information Clearinghouse. The Clearinghouse website, which will be developed by Virginia Tech, will allow consumers, manufacturers and utilities to find out more about smart grid technologies and initiatives across the US.

“The selection of a smart grid clearinghouse will go a long way in helping Americans and companies track and quantify the benefits of smart grid and measure the transformational potential of and opportunities available from smart grid technologies,” says the GridWise Alliance.

For further information:
www.recovery.gov/
www.energy.gov/
www.gridwise.org/

22 July 2009

Back