White House Readies $250M in Smart Grid Deployment Loans

This week, White House officials announced several new initiatives to modernize the U.S. electrical power grid and boost the development of clean energy technologies.The initiatives include $250 million in loans for smart grid technology deployment, a private sector effort to provide consumers with detailed energy usage information and a new White House Renewable Energy Rapid Response Team to speed the review of proposed renewable energy projects. By improving consumer access to energy usage data, the White House hopes to spur the development of entrepreneurial businesses that help Americans make informed decisions about their energy spending. The announcement was accompanied by a new report from the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) that outlines the Administration's long-term goals for its smart grid investments.

The new initiatives will augment the $4.5 billion in grid modernization investments made through the Recovery Act, which was matched by an additional $5.5 billion from the private sector, according to the White House announcement. USDA's Rural Utility Service would administer the $250 million loan program, funding updates to the electrical grid in rural regions. A private, nonprofit program, Grid 21, would help promote technologies that keep consumers informed about their electricity usage. The program would include a contest, sponsored by utility companies and smart meter makers, to find new ways to help consumers control their energy habits.

A new White House Renewable Energy Rapid Response Team, co-led by the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the Department of the Interior and the Department of Energy (DOE), would improve federal coordination of smart grid efforts and speed the approval of promising projects. The announcement also included several ongoing efforts, such as information sharing programs, ARPA-E funding for smart grid research and the planned DOE Smart Grid Innovation Hub.

Read the announcement at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/smart-grid-press-release-6-13-2011.pdf.

NSTC also released a set of overarching goals and policy recommendations for federal smart grid investments in a report that gives a detailed sketch of current federal smart grid inititiatives. The report identifies four pillars for federal policy supporting smart grid deployment:

• Enabling cost-effective smart grid investments;
• Unlocking the potential for innovation in the electric sector;
• Empowering consumers and enabling them to make informed decisions; and,
• Securing the grid.

Each of these pillars is associated with several policy recommendations from NSTC. In order to spur cost-effective investments, the council recommends creating state and federal incentives for utility investment in smart grid technologies, continued federal funding in smart grid R&D and demonstration projects, and public repositories for information sharing from deployments. To maximize private innovation, they recommend supporting open standards, discouraging usage during peak demand and ensuring competition.

The report also includes a summary of all ongoing federal smart grid efforts. Another report is due within the next six months from the Department of Energy, updating NSTC on its progress in implementing these recommendations and the next round of policy goals.

Read "A Policy Framework for the 21st Century Grid: Enabling Our Secure Energy Future" at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/nstc-smart-grid-june2011.pdf