The Vermont Public Service Board approved a $68 million smart grid plan Central Vermont Service Corp (CVPS), the state's largest utility. CVPS's collaboration with other utilities will help bring in more than $68 million to the state to pay for the programs. The utility's SmartPower plan includes automated metering, two-way communications systems and ways to introduce new rate designs. The first new meters are expected to be installed in 2011, which is also when the pilot programs will begin.

The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC) denied a request by the Hawaiian Electric Co. to expand its smart grid deployment on Oahu. HECO had asked for 18 more months to expand its AMI testing which would have charged consumers $1.4 million to install 5,000 more meters in Oahu in addition to the 9,400 meters that were deployed already in its pilot. With this ruling, the PUC closed the smart grid docket on HECO’s initial 2008 request. That means the utility would need to start over with state regulators if it tries again.

"Our office was concerned that the investment would be made but ratepayers wouldn't see the benefits," said Dean Nishina, executive director for the state Division of Consumer Advocacy, as reported by news agency AP. The utility should create a comprehensive plan for upgrading the electric grid before it makes another attempt to use ratepayer money to put advanced electric meters in homes and businesses, according to the PUC's ruling.

The New York State Public Service Commission is seeking information to develop cutting-edge regulatory policies that will be needed to encourage the development of the smart grid and the overall modernization of the electric grid.

Chairman Garry Brown says the smart grid promises “the deployment of new technologies that could help utilities become more efficient and help modernize the existing transmission and distribution grid. If done smartly, with a close eye toward future possibilities, this modernization will help utilities streamline and manage their operations while empowering consumers with a far-greater ability to control electricity consumption and costs. This would clearly be a win for all parties.”

In addition to comments from traditional utilities, the Commission is soliciting input from telecommunication companies, computer software and hardware providers, internet developers, consumer advocates and other interested parties as it moves forward with developing its smart grid technology road map.

When the proceedings are finished, the Commission’s findings may be obtained by going to the Documents section of the Commission’s Web site at www.dps.state.ny.us and entering case number 09-M-0074 or 10-E-0285.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission has authorized Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co. to expand its smart grid program statewide by investing up to $366 million during the next three years, $127 million of which will be paid from federal stimulus funding. Company officials said they expect to save about $22 million in operational costs through the program, a savings that will be returned to consumers.

This smart-grid project approval is a good sign following decisions by MD and OH PUCs, which had declined or deferred from providing cost recovery for smart grid deployments by Baltimore Gas & Electric and First Energy, respectively.

In another setback for smart grid, the Ohio Public Utilities Commission issued a decision yesterday that approved First Energy’s “Smart Grid Modernization Initiative”, but deferred from approving cost recovery until the PUC rules on a separate proceeding.

Reportedly, it could take months before the PUC renders a decision on cost recovery, and First Energy has reportedly halted its deployment temporarily, until the matter of cost recovery is resolved. The issue could also threaten $36 million in DOE smart grid grants, which First Energy just signed onto at the beginning of June. The Ohio PUC decision comes a week after the Maryland PSC issued a decision rejecting Baltimore Gas & Electric’s smart grid deployment plan.

In a disturbing decision, the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) this week rejected Baltimore Gas & Electric's (BG&E) plan to deploy 1.2 million meters. Despite providing a potential $2.5 billion return on a $500 million initial capital investment and getting $200 million in DOE funding, the plan was rejected because the PSC was not convinced that it justified the proposed customer surcharge or that it would enhance the electricity transmission grid or the company's distribution 'backbone.' However, BG&E can resubmit its proposal dropping any proposed cost recovery surcharge and including a business case that is not centered on mandatory time of use pricing. The decision is troubling because the upcoming Clean Air Act legislation threatens to shut down 30 percent of all coal-fired plants, making it essential that utilities like BG&E have smart meter deployments to help meet demand through demand response and energy efficiency. The decision also jeopardizes a portion of the $200 million in DOE funding that BG&E was awarded. For more information, contact the UTC Legal/Regulatory Department.

(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 »