The federal government dug into its pockets for a second round of smart grid funding, this time sending $620 million on 32 demonstration projects in 21 states.
The announcement came Tuesday from Energy Secretary Steven Chu and brings the department’s smart grid funding to more than $4 billion this year.
Steven Chu's Energy Department has now allocated more than $4 billion for smart grids
Smart grids promise energy savings and efficiencies by giving consumers greater access to information about and control over their energy use. They also hope to create more resilient electric grids capable of accepting large quantities of renewable energy from solar and wind farms.
However, fully capable smart grids are years away, with demonstration projects just getting underway.
On Tuesday, Chu said the public money will be matched with $1 billion of private funding. Sixteen of the awards, $4535 million in funds, will go to regional demonstration projects involving 50 utilities and 100 million consumers. These efforts include installing smart meters and improving the flow of information about electricity usage and power outages.
A second funding push will underwrite energy storage projects to enhance the reliability of the grid, such as advanced batteries, compressed air systems and flywheels.
Chu said smart grid technologies should be able to reduce the nation’s electricity use more than 4 percent by 2030, saving $20.4 billion.
