DOE releases $3.9bn stimulus funds for smart grid
The Department of Energy (DOE) has launched an ambitious, multi-billion dollar effort supporting the development of smart grid technologies, a key component of the Obama administration’s quest to transform the country’s energy system.
In a press release issued yesterday, DOE announced that it would disburse $3.9 billion in stimulus grants to modernize and increase the “reliability, efficiency and security of the nation’s [electricity] transmission and distribution system.”
A lot of ink has been spilled on the need for more wind and solar power facilities. However, as important is the ability to manage (and cut) electricity consumption, something known as demand-side management and which smart grid technology can do.
Our current grid is more of an open valve that continuously pipes electricity into a house or business. A smart grid enables a utility to regulate the electricity flow, supplying more power when demand is high and less when it falls. For more on that see this great video (hat tip to IBM).
Of the $3.9 billion smart grid stimulus grants, $3.3 billion have been earmarked for the Smart Grid Investment Grant Program and $615 million for smart grid demonstration projects. In the past months Chicago and Miami have both announced demonstration projects. Grants will range in size from $40,000 for small projects to $20 million.
Companies set to benefit from these DOE funds include General Electric and Silver Spring Networks, (both are working on the Chicago pilot program) as well as IT/tech companies IBM and Cisco Systems, which has partnered with Silver Spring on the Miami pilot.
