Onvia, Inc. (Nasdaq: ONVI) is tracking 2,700 energy efficiency, renewable energy, and transmission upgrade projects kicking off in 2010 as a result of funding in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed into law a year ago. Worth billions, these projects will lay the foundation for a green economy that will fuel job and business growth for years to come. Onvia is the leader in gBusiness solutions and the creator of Recovery.org, a private sector initiative to give businesses transparency into recovery project spending.
stimulus
There is a great deal of excitement surrounding the smart grid roll-out happening worldwide as it promises to make the delivery of electricity more efficient, reliable, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective. Governments around the world are investing is smart grid deployments. For example, the U.S. government has earmarked $4.5 billion, while in China, a 4 trillion yuan ($596 billion) smart grid investment is underway.
via Embedded.com – Designing intelligent smart grid systems that promote energy efficiency.
Companies that receive U.S. stimulus grants from a $3.4 billion smart-grid electricity project will not be taxed on those funds by the federal government, the Treasury Department said today.
The decision lets the Energy Department proceed with grant agreements in the coming weeks, according to a joint statement from the Treasury and Energy departments.
via Smart-Grid Federal Grants Spared From U.S. Tax, Treasury Says – BusinessWeek.
Glendale Water & Power will begin this spring a demonstration project of a smart grid system funded by a federal grant.
The project will install 1,500 electric and water meters that allow for two-way communication between the customer and the city-owned utility giving real-time electricity usage data that will help save on Energy costs.
Glendale is the first city in the nation to sign an agreement for a Smart Grid Investment Grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.
The ins and outs of tomorrow’s energy grid will be tested on an unprecedented scale in Chicago. Local utility ComEd, a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation, will use $5 million in Recovery Act funding to institute the program, which will initially outfit 8,000 homes with advanced smart meters in order to test how well consumers manage their energy consumption when monitoring and programming are available. The project will also include outfitting 100 homes with distributed solar power systems, creating “mini-utilities” through which ComEd can glimpse the smart home of the future.
The Department of Energy’s $620 million in awards for smart grids and other energy-related projects should provide the government and industry real insight into how to get the nation’s electrical grid talking.
Wireless technology will be used to help utility grids become smarter as the technology can help better manage in the delivery of electricity in real time in a more efficient manner. But how great a role wireless plays in the evolving smart grid has yet to be determined. The smart grid system is something that will take decades to achieve, but real progress is under way. In order for this vision to develop, billing systems and other items that touch the grid will need to be implemented.
via Smart grid demonstrations aim to validate concept – RCR Wireless News.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has placed an unprecedented focus on state and local energy issues. With half of the approximately $580 billion in ARRA funding having been pegged for states and localities, those efforts that, over time, best pool and manage regional resources will charge ahead of the pack to fruition. That all-important word — collaboration — sets the stage for successful working relationships.
You may already know this, but our power grid system has been largely left alone for half a century. We’re using inefficient grid technology to try to thread power across our country and in the process are losing precious energy and a lot of cash. As part of the infamous American Reinvestment and Recovery Act–or Stimulus–Obama smartly set aside 3.4 billion dollars to invest in smart grid technology in 2010 and beyond. That block of funding was matched by industry money and private investment to total over $8 billion in funding for everything from installation of smart meters to funding for manufacturing processes.
via 8 Billion Dollars in Stimulus Funds to Jump Start “Power Grid 2.0″ in US | Inhabitat.
Smart meter maker Itron reported better than expected fourth quarter and annual 2009 earnings late Wednesday. That wasn’t too shocking given Itron has been expected to turn around this year as it has started shipping significant volumes of smart meters to utilities. But what was surprising in the company’s conference call was this nugget that CEO Malcolm Unsworth let out about how some utilities might potentially be thinking about rejecting the smart grid stimulus funds because of certain tax restrictions.
via Some Utilities Considering Rejecting Smart Grid Stimulus Funds?.
Bids are out for construction of the second phase of St. George’s SunSmart solar facility, which could more than double the output of the 100-kilowatt facility.
Using $190,000 allocated to the city as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the plan is to build up to another 150 kilowatts of capacity at SunSmart, which has been recognized as a unique attempt to help the public get involved with renewable energy. The solar farm, developed as a way to take advantage of the area’s average of more than 310 days of sunlight per year, produces only a fraction of the power used in the city, but received much acclaim over the past year from groups pursuing more renewable energy options.
via Solar farm to double in size | thespectrum.com | The Spectrum.
While much of the attention in the smart grid industry has been focused on the U.S. market — gotta take advantage of that close to $4 billion in smart grid stimulus funds — developing countries like India, China and Brazil are also looking to make their power grids smarter. For these countries, some of which are experiencing rapid economic growth (translates to more homes and buildings getting connected to the grid) there are some similar, and some very different, reasons to make the grid smarter compared to the developed world.
via 5 Reasons Why Developing Countries Need Smart Grids, Too.
Beacon Power Corporation (Nasdaq: BCON), a leading provider of advanced products and services to support a more stable, reliable and efficient electricity grid, today announced that it plans to hire approximately 50 new employees this year at its Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, headquarters, as it ramps up production of its grid-scale flywheel energy storage systems.
Utility companies around the world will invest $21 billion in smart grid security efforts between 2010 and 2015, according to estimates released in a new report.
They’re being spurred on by the U.S. Department of Energy’s smart grid stimulus programs, and the need to secure smart grid deployments that are becoming more and more technology-reliant and vulnerable to infiltration and compromise.
via Feds Will Spur Smart Grid Cyber-Security Investment Growth to $21 Billion by 2015, Report Claims.
Fluke Corp., a company specializing in electronic test and measurement technology and electrical calibration, has received $1.4 million in federal stimulus funding to support the development of new calibration technology.
The company says this technology will be “a catalyst for creating a standard with which electricity flowing into the smart grid will be evaluated.” The standard will streamline and make consistent the measurement of electricity from all sources, including renewables.
via Renew Grid: Content / FYI / Fluke Awarded Grant To Develop Smart Grid Calibration Technology.
S&C Electric Co. has been selected by American Electric Power (AEP) for the utility’s gridSMART Project in Ohio following AEP’s award of $75 million in Department of Energy (DOE) stimulus funding.
The AEP Ohio gridSMART Demonstration Project will be deployed to 110,000 AEP Ohio customers in northeast central Ohio. It will integrate a range of advanced technologies in the distribution grid, utility back office and consumer premises with consumer programs to comprehensively demonstrate smart grid impacts for consumers and the utility.
via S&C, AEP Parnter for gridSMART Ohio Project – Utility Automation/Electric Light & Power.
