27 October 2009
City of Naperville
Posted by Stephanie Hastings under: News .
City Selected for Award Negotiations for $11 Million in Matching Funding
from U.S Department of Energy (DOE)
Smart Grid Investment Grant Program would provide long-term savings to power customers
NAPERVILLE, Ill.— The City of Naperville is pleased to announce that the U.S. Department of Energy has selected the city for award negotiations of nearly $11 million in funding through the Smart Grid Investment Grant Program as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This grant requires a local match and will be considered by the Naperville City Council at an upcoming Council meeting.
“We have the opportunity to save the community tens of millions of dollars going forward in our power purchases,” said Naperville Director of Public Utilities Allan Poole. “Through real-time pricing options, customers would have a choice on when and how they choose to utilize energy.”
Naperville’s smart grid project includes:
• Complete automation of the city’s electric grid, which will provide automatic, computerized meter readings in real-time. This will streamline customer billing and increasing billing accuracy.
• The addition of more than 57,000 smart meters will allow residents and businesses to analyze and adjust their energy usage patterns, thus conserving energy and controlling consumption and costs.
• Based on the availability of real-time feedback, the Department of Public Utilities will increase utility reliability and support two-way communication flow between the customer and the utility.
• Through a better understanding of utility demand and usage, pricing can be lowered accordingly.
• The smart grid will also serve as the initial infrastructure to support electric car usage for the average household.
“As customers are more actively involved in monitoring their energy usage, we anticipate an overall reduction in energy use and decreased peak demand usage, which will lower the wholesale and retail costs of energy,” said Assistant Director of Public Utilities-Electric Mark Curran. “This project will increase economic opportunities and create jobs.”
The Smart Grid grant is part of a larger DOE initiative doling out $3.4 billion to 100 commercial scale smart grid projects. The City of Naperville was one of approximately 400 applicants for this grant.
A DOE grants officer will review this allocation by November 16 with a formal award letter to follow. For more information, please visit the DOE Web site at http://www.energy.gov/recovery/.
Posted using ShareThis