The First Cities to Go to the Smart Grid

Smart grid technology is a long time away from being a nationwide, or even state wide reality. There are many stumbling blocks keeping many utility companies or cities from joining into the venture. There are however, many cities that are involved in the experimental phases of smart grid technology, allowing the different companies involved to see what works, what does not work, and how they can best work out the kinks in the system.

Smart grid test projects are being conducted in Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, and Hawaii with other projects in the discussion stages. The whole point of conducting the experiments is simple: these areas will show that smart grid technology is a viable solution to energy problems and concerns and will help come up with a better working model for how to run such a technology across the country. But, the problem may not be which kind of smart grid to use, but what kinds.

What works in one state may not be effective or appropriate for another state. This is why the testing sites are so diverse and so spread out. More rural areas are going to need to find an energy source that keeps them from having long and potentially dangerous blackouts in the winter months. Windy areas may benefit from employing wind energy for some of their power generation while sunny areas will do well with solar energy. Another issue is trying to connect the states if that is deemed necessary. Right now, states regulate their energy and utilities differently which means that new rules would have to be drawn up and accepted or the grid would have to be different for each state.

These test projects are expensive to say the least, but necessary if we are ever going to upgrade the largely outdated and nearly obsolete energy delivery systems we are limping along with now. The Fort Collins, Colorado smart grid experiment for instance is costing an estimated "$350 million dollars with only $4.5 million dollars of that coming from the government stimulus package." (Eco-businesswire.com 2009)

The cost of upgrading the power grid nationwide could reach the hundreds of billions of dollar mark easily and will vary widely depending on what is defined as a "smart grid" and what each upgrade would actually entail.