4.17.09 WSJ: Obama Admin Unveils $4 Bln In Smart-Grid Power Tech Funding

On Thursday, the White House unveiled plans to allocate $4 billion in stimulus funds toward building a national smart grid, reports Dow Jones Newswires in the Wall Street Journal.

The Administration wants to spur development of a new artificially intelligent “smart” grid that could drastically increase the efficiency of the nation’s electricity infrastructure.

The Department of Energy announced plans to distribute $3.4 billion in smart-grid technology grants and $615 million for smart-grid demonstration projects.

“We need an upgraded electrical grid to take full advantage of the vast renewable resources in this country – to take the wind from the Midwest and the sun from the Southwest and power areas across the country,” said Vice President Joe Biden, making the announcement at an ABB Ltd. (ABB) transformer plant in Missouri.

By better managing electricity use and supply – particularly as the country’s power infrastructure becomes more complicated as renewable energy and local generation comes online – a smart grid would help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions per kilowatt-hour of electrons consumed.

Under the $3.375 billion Smart Grid Investment Grant Program, the DOE will provide grants ranging from $500,000 to $20 million for smart-grid technology deployments, and $100,000 to $5 million for grid-monitoring devices.