SUBJECT: Governor Douglas Lauds Smart Grid Stimulus Grant of Almost $69 Million to Vermont Utilities

Statewide Project Will Create Both Short and Long Term Jobs

Montpelier, Vt. – Governor Jim Douglas welcomed the news today that Vermont’s electric utilities will receive $68,928,650 in competitive federal stimulus funds to deploy Smart Grid technology including advanced metering and grid automation technologies statewide.

“This grant is exciting not only for the jobs created in the short term by transition to Smart Grid technologies, but also because of the jobs and economic benefits it provides in the long term by making our energy costs more competitive,” Governor Douglas said. “And it will help position Vermont to take advantage of technologies such as electric and plug in hybrid vehicles, enabling us to reduce the fossil fuel we use for transportation as well as heating and other uses.”

Four-hundred applications totaling $17 billion were submitted nationally. Vermont’s coordinated statewide application was one of 100 that were funded and constitutes roughly 2% of the total $3.4 billion awarded. The grant from the Department of Energy, announced today, will cover half the costs of almost $138 million in planned improvements by utilities across Vermont.

“I want to thank our Congressional Delegation, Chief Technology Officer Tom Evslin, Commissioner Dave O’Brien and Vermont utilities for working tirelessly to put forward the best possible application,” the Governor said.

The successful application was a joint effort by all Vermont utilities, the Department of Public Service, the Office of Economic Stimulus and Recovery, and Vermont’s congressional delegation. The statewide grant application, known as eEnergy Vermont, was filed on behalf of all of Vermont’s electric distribution utilities, Efficiency Vermont and Vermont Electric Power Company (VELCO), the state’s transmission utility, which worked together on the project along with the Vermont Office of Economic Stimulus and Recovery, the Vermont Department of Public Service, and Vermont’s congressional offices. VELCO was the lead applicant.

“The tremendous collaboration of all involved led to a top-rate application,” said Chief Recovery Officer Tom Evslin. “This grant makes it possible for Vermont utilities to do in three years what would have taken at least eight without the federal funding. Vermonters will get the cost and environmental benefits of a Smart Grid five years before we would have otherwise.”

In Vermont, smart grid projects will include a statewide fiber optic build-out by VELCO that enhances Vermont’s grid, improves interconnections with surrounding states and Quebec, and facilitates statewide broadband.

“The Smart Grid is our greatest priority in energy policy and I am convinced it will be a transformative event for the Green Mountain State,” Public Service Commissioner Dave O’Brien added.

Additional Information:

The eEnergy Vermont project is a set of interrelated initiatives closely coordinated by the participating utilities. These initiatives will significantly improve the reliability and intelligence of the Vermont grid while fostering better coordination and management within the Vermont system and with the New England, New York and Quebec systems with which the Vermont grid integrates. Throughout the project, best practices developed by the Vermont utilities will be shared within Vermont and with the Department of Energy.

There are three primary areas of focus:

Automated metering infrastructure and smart meters will create a technical infrastructure that will allow Vermont utilities to introduce new peak and time-of-use dynamic pricing, and enhance existing Outage Management Systems. Vermont customers and utilities will be able to reduce peak consumption, improve system reliability, reduce carbon emissions, provide consumer-driven energy choices, and make electricity more affordable than it would otherwise be.

Customer systems such as in-home displays that provide real-time feedback and information about home energy usage and pricing will be deployed within Vermont to fundamentally change how customers manage their electricity.

Electric distribution and transmission system grid automation will allow Vermont utilities to build a more reliable and secure grid that can automatically adjust and react to system conditions and more easily integrate distributed generation.

Many Vermont utilities had been looking into deploying so-called smart-grid technologies on their own. Through the eEnergy Vermont grant, each utility will maintain its own programs, but through the statewide effort will benefit from each other’s experiences. For example, studies will be conducted on how social networking can be used to educate customers on how to best use smart meter technologies, and how to shift load to off-peak hours.

###