(Washington, DC) Smart grids will drive our national energy policy but policy makers agree that federal and state regulators need to collaborate not only with one another but also with the utility industry to ensure energy savings and efficiencies are realized from smart grid deployments. Kicking off UTC's Smart Grid Policy Summit here today, UTC CEO Bill Moroney noted that "too many of us were talking past one another and not with one another."

Keynote speaker Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner John Norris emphasized that coordination of efforts among all energy players is needed to lay the foundation for smart grid evolution. "There needs to be a sequence of development in terms of smart grid technologies. We need to coordinate the roll out of technologies to ensure that consumers see the benefit," Norris said.

Federal-state coordination is critical to promoting innovation in the smart grid, FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said. "We will continue to need the expertise of the states and other federal agencies in the implementation of this plan and process and I look forward to our continuing collaboration and dialog."

State regulators might very well be the toughest critics of smart grid initiatives if National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners President David Coen is any indication. Some past capital investments by the utility industry have caused "many of my colleagues to be skeptical of smart meters in general and we don't want to make the same mistake again," he said. "You have to demonstrate to us that the investments will result in the efficiencies promised."

Although state regulators will check smart grid spending, utilities also need to work with federal regulators to demonstrate the benefits of smart grid technology. "One of the things we have to do as regulators is challenge the industry" to look at a variety of options for managing the electric grid, Pat Hoffman, Assistant Secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability at the Department of Energy, said.