Smart Grid Blog

ComEd said will letters go out this week to single family homeowners in the innovation corridor along I-290 – which includes 130,000 customers in Melrose Park, Bellwood, Maywood, River Forest, Oak Park, Forest Park, Broadview, Hillside, Berwyn and the Humboldt Park section of Chicago – asking for single-family homeowners to test solar panels.

The three-year photovoltaic pilot is partially funded by a $5 million U.S. Department of Energy grant and allows ComEd to install 100 solar arrays on residential homes in the corridor. The arrays produce enough electricity to power a small home and at the end of the pilot, the homeowners keep the panels, said Maryl Freestone, senior engineer and project manager for the PV pilot.

via ComEd seeks homes for solar panel test | Chicago Breaking Business.

After weeks of testimony and 11th-hour changes to its big smart meter project, Baltimore Gas & Electric has gotten itself back into the good graces of Maryland state regulators. The utility announced Monday (PDF) that the Maryland Public Service Commission approved the redrawn project on Friday, meaning BG&E won’t have to return a $200 million Department of Energy stimulus grant for it.

via Baltimore’s Smart Meter Project Is Back On Track.

Oregon’s power grid will need to be improved in the coming years as more wind and solar power comes online. The U.S. Department of Energy will help that happen with a $178 million project to test smart grid technologies in five Northwestern states, including Oregon.

via $178M project to test smart grid technology « Daily Journal of Commerce – Building and Construction News in Portland, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.

Ohio-based FirstEnergy is on its way to make a transition over to smart grid and the company has signed an agreement with Department of Energy for a huge grant.

In a recent press release, FirstEnergy Corp. announced that it has been awarded $57.4 million grant by the Department of Energy (DOE) as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The money will be expended on the introduction of “smart grid” technologies to improve the reliability and interactivity of the electric distribution infrastructure in targeted areas of its Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey service territories.

via FirstEnergy Awarded DOE Grants to Initiate Smart Grid Transition in Select Pennsylvania Regions.

Central Electric Cooperative will receive $4.65 million in matching funds from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to deploy smart grid technologies.

The grant, provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, will enable CEC to replace more than 30,000 existing meters with advanced metering technology.

via Central Electric to Deploy Smart Grid Technologies – myCentralOregon.com.

PPL Electric Utilities has finalized a contract with the U.S. Department of Energy for a $19 million matching smart grid grant that will help the company improve electric service reliability for more than 60,000 Harrisburg area customers.

It’s a key step in the company’s $38 million PPL Smart Grid project. PPL Electric Utilities is partnering with Drexel University and technology leaders GE Energy, Lockheed Martin and Alcatel-Lucent on the two-year project.

via PPL Electric Utilities Signs Contract for Federal Smart Grid Grant – Yahoo! Finance.

NYSE-listed energy efficiency company Progress Energy has received a $200m grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) under the 2009 federal stimulus package for smart grid projects.

via NewNet News – Progress Energy receives $200m federal smart grid grant.

U.S. Rep. Peter Welch recently announced a $450,000 federal grant for Vermont Law School’s Institute for Energy and the Environment to conduct smart-grid research and analysis aimed at updating the U.S. power grid.

The Department of Energy grant, which was secured by Welch, will strengthen the Institute’s reputation as a national leader in smart-grid implementation standards and its efforts to address the reliability, cost and environmental impacts of the nation’s energy policy.

via E-Vermont aims at state’s rural towns: Times Argus Online.

With energy experts forecasting substantial increases in solar power in the coming decades, GE researchers are working with Arizona Public Service, the state’s largest electric utility, to understand how large amounts of solar can best be integrated into today’s grid.

APS, along with four partners, including GE, recently was awarded a $3.3 million High Penetration Solar Deployment grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

via GE to Study Impact of High Solar Energy Penetration on the Grid – MarketWatch.

American Transmission Co. has entered into two agreements with the United States Department of Energy, accepting investment grants totaling $12.7 million to invest in smart grid technologies to be incorporated into ATC’s transmission system.

The DOE in October notified ATC that two of its applications for smart grid investment grants were selected for smart grid grant awards. The grants to ATC are among 100 made nationwide – totaling $3.4 billion – by the DOE to advance smart grid technologies.

via DOE to expand $12.7 mn on smart grids – CIOL News Reports.

The Naperville City Council on Tuesday night took the first step toward the eventual installation of up to 57,000 smart meters in homes that will allow the city and rate-payers to monitor electric use and hopefully lower energy bills, reduce outages and shrink carbon footprints.

Council members voted 7-0 to work with the United States Department of Energy to proceed with the three-year, $22 million project, half of which will be funded by a federal grant. The city previously agreed to fund the other half by selling bonds.

via Naperville agrees to proceed with smart meter program – chicagotribune.com.

UTC is one of 33 colleges nationwide and the only school in the state to win federal stimulus funds to help develop training programs to expand electric smart-grid technology.

Officials say the award puts the school on the cutting edge of the emerging technology.

via Chattanooga Times Free Press | UTC awarded federal grant for smart-grid.

UH M?noa's College of Engineering, with the support of Hawaiian Electric Company, has been awarded a $2.5-million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to train students and current workers for emerging jobs in clean and renewable energy technologies in the electric power industry.

Officially titled, “Integrated Education and Research in Clean Energy and Island Sustainability,” the project is a major component of UH M?noa’s Renewable Energy and Island Sustainability (REIS) program. Led by Electrical Engineering Professor Anthony Kuh, REIS seeks to establish a prominent national and international program in renewable energy at the university. UH M?noa will use these funds to create a multi-disciplinary program of formal courses and hands-on research experience in clean energy technologies, renewable energy production, energy storage, integration and smart grid technologies.

via M?noa: College of Engineering awarded $2.5 million to develop clean energy program | University of Hawaii News.

Black Hills Power has reached an agreement with the Department of Energy for a $9.6 million matching grant that will fund the installation of 69,000 smart meters and related infrastructure.

Smart meters use cellular technology, which allows the utility to read electrical usage remotely. Now, meter readers check the meter in person monthly by entering the reading into a hand-held computer and bringing data back to the office for uploading and billing.

via Federal grant will speed BHP smart meter installation.

The X PRIZE Foundation (XPF) is expanding its vision to address worldwide challenges in the areas of Energy & Environment; Exploration of the Oceans and Space; Life Sciences; and Education & Global Development with $100 million in prizes over the next 10 years.

X PRIZE is an educational nonprofit organization whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs, inspiring the formation of new industries, jobs and the revitalization of markets that are currently stalled. Through strategic design of ground-breaking competitions with significant, multi-million-dollar prize purses, X PRIZE intends to spur collaboration to address the issues.

via X PRIZE Foundation Aims to Launch $100M in Prizes Over Next 10 Years, Targeting 4 Key Areas | FavStocks.

Peco Energy Company, the Pennsylvania subsidiary of Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC), has entered into an agreement with the Department of Energy, accepting a $200 million grant for setting up a smart electric grid across Greater Philadelphia, according to an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

via Citybizlist Philadelphia – Peco Energy Signs $200 Million Deal with DoE for Developing Smart Grid in Philadelphia – cbl.

Representatives from the US Department of Energy (DOE) announce that they have just awarded a $2.5 million grant to the College of Technology, at the University of Houston. The money will be used to create a new type of training program, which will seek to train a small, highly-specialized unit of technicians in how to handle smart grind. The DOE refers to these people as the next generation of workers that will power the electricity industry. The program will be especially relevant given the fact that renewable energy-ran power plants pose new challenges for the existing grids.

via DOE Provides $2.5 Million Grant to UH – For workforce training in the electric power industry – Softpedia.

Westar Energy selected eMeter to provide the necessary smart grid software to commence its SmartStar program in Lawrence, Kan.

Designed to give customers better insight into electricity use and cost information, the SmartStar program became a reality with a $19 million grant from the Department of Energy’s Smart Grid Investment Grant program.

via Westar Energy chooses eMeter software to help with SmartStar Program – Utility Automation/Electric Light & Power.

eMeter, a leader in Smart Grid Management software, announced today that Westar Energy, Inc., the largest electrical energy supplier in Kansas, selected eMeter to provide the necessary Smart Grid software to commence its SmartStar program in Lawrence, KS. Designed to give customers better insight into electricity use and cost information, the SmartStar program became a reality with a $19 million grant from the Department of Energy’s Smart Grid Investment Grant program.

via Westar Energy Chooses eMeter Software to Help Put Customers First in SmartStar Program — SAN MATEO, Calif., April 12 /PRNewswire/ –.

Vermont Law School in South Royalton is getting a $450,000 grant to do research on smart grid technology.

The idea is to update the power grid in the United States.

Smart grid systems use digital technology to move power more efficiently, cutting usage and peak demand and saving money.

via VPR News: Vermont Law School Gets $450,000 For Smart Grid Study.