Electric Smart Grid Gets Two Major Boosts

In early April, a federal agency charged up electric smart-grid mapping with a $1.3 million contract. Meanwhile, a private company attracted $8 million in venture capital for electric smart-grid technology, no small feat in the current lending climate.

An electric smart-grid is a computer-controlled power network with routers and meters throughout each home or business, as well as a more integrated and efficient transmission system. Such a grid could replace our deregulated and outdated patchwork of electric transmission systems with a nationwide network that would allow homeowners and businesses to maximize their energy efficiency. An electric smart grid would also make it easier for utilities to tap into renewable resources including wind and solar energy.

The electric smart-grid is a crucial centerpiece of President Obama's renewable energy and energy efficiency agenda. It could lead to major reductions in energy usage by letting consumers know the individual electric draw of each household or business appliance. The electric smart grid will also require local manpower in every county in the United States, creating jobs just when unemployment is becoming a serious concern.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology transmitted $1.3 million to the Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. to help map out the design and standards for a national electric smart grid.

"The Smart Grid is a cornerstone of national efforts to achieve energy independence, save consumers money and curb greenhouse gas emissions," said NIST Deputy Director Patrick Gallagher in a NIST press statement. "This contract is a significant step in the urgent effort to identify and develop standards that will ensure a reliable and robust Smart Grid."

By the end of 2009, NIST expects to submit a detailed electric smart-grid plan to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which has jurisdiction over interstate distribution and sales of electric power.

NIST should know plenty about the electric smart grid. The agency is based in Boulder, where Xcel Energy is developing the first citywide electric smart grid. The utility company also has a traveling electric smart grid circus of sorts, including a demonstration truck featuring a miniature home wired to the electric smart grid and models of the citywide electric smart grid. Xcel also is presenting two-day seminars around the country with demonstrations and detailed research presentations on the Boulder electric smart-grid project launched in 2008.

Boulder resident Brandon Geer said he is excited about the city leading the nation in renewable technology.

"Boulder's really a progressive city, especially in the realm of renewable energy," he said, adding that even those outside of the green movement can save money by utilizing the electric smart grid. "Even if you're not doing it for environmental reasons, you could see exactly what you're using and lower it as a challenge to yourself. It would be a fun game to play."

Meanwhile, Boston-based Ember Corporation has raised $8 million for research into adapting the firm's wireless sensor technologies for hooking homes into the electric smart grid.

"ZigBee standards extend the developing 'smart grid' out to the billions of devices, appliances and equipment where most energy efficiency goals will be achieved," said Ember chairman Bob Metcalfe in a press statement.

Steve Chu, Obama's secretary of energy, is known for his support and research on electric smart grid technologies. He clearly knows the electric smart grid should be considered a vital energy efficiency upgrade, as well as a major economic stimulator. Likewise, Tom Friedman's bestseller "Hot, Flat and Crowded" calls for a smart electric grid as the centerpiece of a new green economy he thinks can "renew America."

The GridWise Alliance released a report this year estimating that 280,000 jobs could be created directly through the deployment of an electric smart grid, and a $64 billion industry could be generated with a federal investment of just $16 billion.

SOURCES:
National Institute of Standards and Technology press release, April 2009
Xcel Energy Smart Grid City Web site, 2008-2009
Ember Corp press release, April 2009
Thomas Friedman, "Hot, Flat and Crowded," 2008
Gridwise Alliance, January 2009 report