My wife is fond of quoting the old adage, "Patience is a virtue, find it if you can, seldom in a woman, never in a man." While I would argue that she has the precedence backwards, the point is accurate. There has been precious little patience these days; at least, so it would seem when it comes to smart control grid and smart metering projects.

Recent press reports are stressing the hard times that many "smart" technology companies have been facing as the roll out of smart grids projects have been slowed by procedural problems surrounding smart grid stimulus funding and worries over the possibility of mandated technical standards flowing from NIST's smart grid interoperability standards process. Folks, two things: (1) the wait is almost over; and (2) don't ignore the fact that many smart installations have continued throughout this process. To the former point, we know that stimulus contracts are being signed in increasing numbers. Order confirmations are not far behind. While the NIST process is not complete, it is fairly clear now where it is headed and which technologies will be anointed as winners. So, in the end, patience has been the virtue that is now being rewarded. Read more »

The Department of Energy (DOE) has signed formal grant agreements with 17 of the 100 grant winners that were announced last October.

Yesterday, UTC member CenterPoint Energy became the latest to finalize its $200 million DOE smart grid stimulus grant. The press release issued stated that $150 million would go "to accelerate its current installation of smart electric meters and associated equipment that make up its Advanced Metering System (AMS)." The remaining $50 million that had also been requested in the same application "will be used to begin building a self-healing Intelligent Grid that utilizes the AMS and other technologies to improve operational efficiency and power reliability in greater Houston".

This news follows the announcement by another UTC member NV Energy had signed a DOE grant agreement worth $138 million. These funds will be used for NV Energy's $301 million Advanced Service Delivery (ASD) project that will build the necessary infrastructure for NV Energy's smart grid roll-out. Other UTC members that have formally signed their smart grid grant awards include City of Wadsworth, OH and El Paso Electric Company.

The full list of grant awardees that have completed award negotiation are: City of Wadsworth, OH; Guam Power Authority; NV Energy, Inc.; Vineyard Energy Project; City of Fulton, Missouri; City of Glendale Water and Power; Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative; Marblehead Municipal Light Department; Sioux Valley Southwestern Electric Cooperative, Inc. ; South Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation; Wellsboro Electric Company; Woodruff Electric; M2M Communications; El Paso Electric; NSTAR Electric Company ; Powder River Energy Corporation; and Midwest Energy Inc.