The White House is set to announce a number of public and private sector initiatives on Monday morning that are geared towards accelerating the modernization of the Nation’s electric infrastructure, bolstering electric-grid innovation, and advancing a clean energy economy. They include $250 million in Rural Utility Service (RUS) loans for smart-grid technology deployment, a private sector initiative to promote consumer-friendly tools for energy management and privacy, and the formation of a Renewable Energy Rapid Response Team which will be jointly led by the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Energy.

A report titled "A Policy Framework for the 21st Century Grid" by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) will also be released at today's event. This report will address steps the administration plans to take to meet it's goals of boosting the development and deployment of smart grid technologies, creation of standards and interoperability to drive innovation, improved grid security and resilience, and consumer-focused energy information access and engagement.

The announcement will be made at a meeting today scheduled for 10am ET. A webcast of the meeting will be available on the White House website. For more information, see this press release.

 A House appropriations bill (HR 4899) that was passed this week provides full funding for both the NTIA's Broadband Technologies Opportunities Program (BTOP) and RUS's Broadband Initiative Program (BIP). Initially, the House had balked and proposed to cut $602 million from the two programs. The House intended to take the money to offset deficits for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, industry groups like the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) successfully lobbied against these cuts. As the Senate already had passed its own appropriations bill last week with full funding for BTOP and BIP, the passage of the House appropriations bill clears the way for its approval by President Obama. 

(Washington, DC) The economic and efficiency benefits of the smart grid could prove a boon to the local communities across America, especially if broadband networks expand to reach into rural areas and the costs of the smart grid are carefully weighed by regulators, according to experts on community development speaking at UTC's Smart Grid Policy Summit here today.

"We have never seen anything like smart grid," Glenn Steiger, General Manager, Glendale Water and Power said. Despite a string of benefits that smart grid technology deliver to the utility, the community is the biggest winner. "We're very excited to help the rest of our city in partnership. This is not just a utility program but a citywide program," he said. Read more »