Sens. Kerry, Kirk Announce $36 Million for Smart Grid Technologies in Massachusetts

October 27, 2009 -- BOSTON – Senators John Kerry and Paul Kirk today announced that six Massachusetts communities and companies will receive a total of $35,778,357 in Recovery Act funding for investments in Smart Grid technologies. The funding aims to ease the nation’s transition to a smarter, stronger, more efficient and reliable electric system.

“These investments will make our electricity delivery system more efficient, give us more control over power surges and reduce the amount of energy we use,” said Sen. Kerry. “I’m grateful that the Obama Administration recognizes the benefits of investing in these projects.”

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“I commend the President for this major initiative,” said Senator Paul G. Kirk, Jr. “Smart grid technology is the future of American energy. This investment upgrades many vital systems throughout the Massachusetts network. It’s essential to modernize our energy infrastructure to provide more efficient, cheaper, and environmentally sound forms of energy as we move away from carbon-based fuels.”

$3.4 billion was awarded nationwide, which will be matched by industry funding for a total public-private investment worth over $8 billion.

The following companies will receive funding:

$11,384, 363 Honeywell International, Inc., Danvers
The funding will provide automated peak pricing response for almost 700 commercial and industrial customers. Fully automated demand response will reduce the electricity load during times of peak demand.

$8,476,800 Town of Danvers
Deploy more than 12,000 smart meters for the full customer base, upgrade cyber security systems, and automate outage management and other distribution operations with the goal of achieving full interoperability between all of the various systems.

$3,721,886 ISO New England, Incorporated, Holyoke
Install 30 synchrophasors and connect the independent systems operators in New England to increase response time to real time system events and reduce congestion by being able to collect and share synchrophasor and disturbance data with other regions for wide area monitoring.

$1,346,175 Marblehead Municipal Light Department
Install 10,000 smart meters and a pilot program to assess the effectiveness of real-time pricing and automated load management.

$10,061,883 NSTAR Electric Company, Norfolk
Expand the system's distribution automation capabilities by implementing "self-healing" functions on the grid that will reduce the impact of outages on the system and the power quality and efficiency of the distribution grid.

$787,250 Vineyard Energy Project, West Tisbury
Deploy a range of smart grid technologies, including smart appliances, an interface for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and a demand response program that will help enable the integration of solar and wind resources onto the grid.

Source: Senators John Kerry