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(1.8.09 - Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday said an economic stimulus package should include building a new electricity “smart grid.

“Smart grid” describes a more efficient, cost-saving method of moving electricity along major long-distance transmission lines to local distribution power lines and disparate end-users in homes, businesses and schools.

The estimated cost of creating a nationwide “smart grid” by investor-owned utilities in the United States is $50 billion over 10 to 20 years, said Ed Legge, an analyst with the Edison Electric Institute, a power industry lobbyist. Adding federally and locally owned utilities, the full cost would be about $65 billion.

Smart grid advocates say utilities and customers will realize cost savings in the long run, despite the high roll-out costs.

In a smart grid, computers and sensors, installed at power plants, substations and along power lines, would signal control centers that would better manage the flow of electricity. For instance, computers would detect transmission bottlenecks and direct power around them.

Power outages are now monitored as customers call local utilities to report them. Smart grid computers would discover outages automatically.

“Smart meters” would be installed to replace conventional electricity meters. These would facilitate communication between utilities and their customers, letting them curb power use when demand peaks and prices are high.

Cutting demand during peak hours would reduce the need for capital spending on more power plants, substations and power lines. Proponents say it also will cut greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming.

The meters combined with smart appliances would make it possible to control and regulate appliances remotely.

Proponents say “smart” technology also will help renewable power sources like solar panels and solar power plants and wind farms integrate into the overall transmission system.

Conventional power grids have difficulty with the intermittent nature of solar and wind power.

Smart grid technology is in various forms of planning and implementation depending on the utility or state jurisdiction.

Investor-owned utilities account for about 70 percent of U.S. electricity use. Several utility companies have begun replacing conventional electricity meters with “smart meters” that receive signals from the grid and send signals back to grid operators.

After year-long study of smart grid technologies in the Pacific Northwest, U.S. officials and IBM estimated customers saved 10 percent on monthly power bills and cut power use by 15 percent.

If those figures could be realized nationwide, it could save between $70 billion and $120 billion in spending on new power plants and transmission lines, the study found.
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<a href=”http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE50808B20090109″>Story link</a>

<a title=”YES WE CAN” href=”http://flickr.com/photos/16333811@N00/2994035684″><img src=”http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3275/2994035684_fd0dc33d3f_m.jpg” alt=”" /></a>

This REPORT:

Freeing the Grid, report no. 02-07, November 2007

is an excellent resource for understanding the net-metering changes happening accross the country.

Here is an excerpt:

###
“Since the 2006 edition of Freeing the Grid, there have been great strides in bringing more clean energy to the grid. Many states have taken the lead with reforming their clean energy policies and goals. But we are still far from conquering the “Energy Trilemma”—a world of energy strained by the three forces: financial stress, environmental constraints and security risks.

As a former rate-regulator, I know it is a tough situation when a utility comes to say, “We need to increase rates to cover new investments in transmission and distribution.” So, when we have a chance to recruit and encourage folks who will install their own small, clean generation that serves its own load, the message is: “Many hands make lighter work; welcome to the task that we all face!”

In this 2007 edition, the Network for New Energy Choices teamed up with the Solar Alliance, the Vote Solar Initiative, and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council to bring the most up-to-date analysis of statewide interconnection standards and net-metering rules. These groups, in the forefront of the field, bring with them more than twenty-five years in institutional experience to draw on best policies and practices.

What are some of the key lessons of this edition?

••• States are taking up the challenge of meeting our national needs; Colorado and Pennsylvania have joined New Jersey in the top ranks of net-metering rules.

••• Interconnection standards and good net-metering policies are vital parts of a larger effort to supplement our current centralized, fossil-fired, electric grid with clean, secure, and cost-effective energy resources. States that have poor net-metering rules and interconnection standards are essentially telling the clean energy industry—with its great potential for job creation—that they are, “Closed for Business”.

••• States can take on the best practices, detailed within, to ensure success in fulfilling clean energy goals.

••• Last, but certainly not least, to encourage, not discourage, small, clean, distributed investments that can help on all three fronts of our energy trilemma—finance, environment, and security.

As we think back on the past year, it is important to remember that each state still needs the tools offered here. So my message, to the legislatures and commissions, is: “Let’s put these tools and lessons to work now.”

By Michael Dworkin
Professor of law and director of the Institute for Energy and the
Environment at Vermont Law School, has also been a litigator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a management partner in an engineering firm, and a utility regulator. Professor Dworkin was chair of the Vermont Public Service Board from 1999 to 2005, and he chaired the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ (NARUC)
Committee on Energy Resources & the Environment. Michael is now a non-utility trustee of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and was elected to the board of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE).
###

EnergyIndependenceToday (empowured.net)
July Newsletter

Hello everyone!

I hope your summer is going great…
there are wonderful things happening at Citizenre…
and in the World!!!

We will be doing our first Citizenre solar installation on the Living with Ed show. The installation is scheduled to be recorded in three weeks. The Living With Ed show is on theHGTV channel which starts their fall season at the end of August. We do not know the exact time it will be aired, but we will let you know.

Since our plant is not online, we will need to use panels from another manufacturer, but the show will focus on our rental model and how we make solar simple. The installation will even be done by our own Stephen Gates.(Ecopreneur)

This will be an exciting milestone in the growth of our mission.

… and here are a few websites with very interesting renewable energy-techno news….

Two new engines driven by air!

http://www.engineair.com.au/index.htm
http://www.theaircar.com/

The new SUMO electric motorcycle

The Cutting Edge… Solar Motorcycle
http://www.plentymag.com/blogs/edge/2007/06/solar_motorcycle.php

Project Energy: Better Fuel Efficiency? Water Powered cars?

Climate Crisis Jam

Malibu Protest against Liquid Natural Gas

Gov. Patrick promises $9M for solar power for state facilities
http://www.bizjournals.com/masshightech/stories/2007/06/11/daily18.html?from_rss=1

New York’s Taxi Fleet to Go Green by 2012

2007 Michigan Earth Keeper Energy Summit inspires hundreds to conserve; updates wind power bill

The Green Book - the everyday guide to saving the planet, one simple step at a time:

Ford Announces Hydrogen-Electric Plug-in Hybrid Drive and Airstream Concept http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007/01/ford_announces_.html
GM Introduces E-Flex Electric Vehicle System; Chevrolet Volt the First Application
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007/01/gm_introduces_e.html

As some of you may or may not know…
we have a very special golden birthday coming this Saturday…
07.07.07
It is very special for me because my little boy, Sequoia, will be two years old!

…—…
It is also a very special day for the world because it is a day
of climate awareness through the LiveEarth concerts
on seven continents across the globe.
please visit http://www.LiveEarth.org
…—…

Hope you have a very joy filled 7.7.7!
Best regards,
Bruce Marshall-Jones

EnergyIndependenceToday (empowured.net)
Team Newsletter
June 1, 2007

Hello everyone!

Spring has sprung… and I for one have been quite busy. It has been a while since the last newsletter so I will just give you the cream of the current crop of news and support information I have been gathering.
Remember to have fun and share your passion!
-Bruce Marshall-Jones

Support the S.O.L.A.R. Act in congress
(Solar Opportunity and Local Access Rights)
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/654310470
~~~•~~~
Tell congress to support the securing of America’s Energy Independence Act!
http://www.seia.org/home.php
~~~•~~~
I got this from a new site called Powurwiki, put together by other Ecopreneurs. You may also find even more great information there.
http://powurwiki.pbwiki.com (The password is solar909)
~~~•~~~
From Rob Styler… here is a link from a recent radio interview with David Gregg, the CEO of Citizenre. This is a long stream and David is in the last part. Before David, Jeff Wolfe, who has been active critic of ours, shares his model and his perspective. He is not aggressively against us in this interview, but he suggests that we are not real.
David’s responses are great and the enthusiasm of the hosts is priceless!
http://www.bestrateofclimb.com/EFF-Episode5.mp3
~~~•~~~
Here is another good source of information showing the net metering programs by state.
http://www.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/resources/maps/netmetering_map.shtml
~~~•~~~
Just in case you did not get my last email here is another copy of the new Ecopreneur video put together by Rob Styler…
http://www.powur.com/web/video/
~~~•~~~
Great News Wire - Airtricity Finalizes Largest Wind Project to Date
http://www.greatnewswire.com/wire/press_release/11929
~~~•~~~
Residential Electricity Prices: A Consumer’s Guide
from the EIA (Energy Information Administration)
http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/brochure/electricity/electricity.html
~~~•~~~
Get the kids enrolled in solar energy!
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Educational/educational.htm
~~~•~~~
Silicon Valley Expores Solar Technology… ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=2478754
~~~•~~~
Energy Crisis - Robert Redford on Larry King Live