Today President Obama announced funding for 100 grants to promote the installation of smart grid and meter systems in about 13% of homes across the US.  Among two of the grant recipients: Fort Collins, CO and Pueblo, CO.

According to an article written by Mark Jaffe of the Denver Post, the two cities will share $24.2mm in funding from the grants for smart meter installation.  The funding for smart meters in Fort Collins and Pueblo will bring smart meter technology to about 120,000 homes. Monies from these grants will also work to promote the infrastructure of smart grid and metering capability.

So what is a smart grid and what does it mean to you?  In theory, it means that residents would buy electricity and/or gas in the same fashion that they purchase other consumer like goods.  Meaning we know the price and what we are receiving for the price and this guides our choices.  Right now, most Coloradoans (most US residents for that matter) have no idea how they are billed for their electricity placing a cost burden to many US residents. 

A look at the cycle of electricity consumption highlights what a smart grid can do for you.  Today, customers are billed 30 days after consumption.  For most of us, it is an aggregate number reflected in kilowatt hours or kWh.  Even more so, most of us don't have tools to tell us if this consumption is a lot or a little, let alone what that cost is in terms of dollars. Do you remember what it cost you last month to run the computers in your house?  How about your washing machine?  The installation of a smart meter will allow you to make choices when the cost for energy at the moment of consumption.  The installation of a smart meter would allow consumers to evaluate choices based on current price points on energy at the time of the consumption.  In terms of everyday use it could mean running your dishwasher at 9:00 instead of 7:00 because the cost of energy for use is less expensive.  For the consumer this means knowledge and with knowledge comes more control over choices.  In turn it allows customers to create a correlation of their behavior with cost.

Smart grid technology is new and a slow moving process for most utilities. As Fort Collins and Pueblo pave the way in Colorado we can expect that smart grids will become part of our future.  Still want more information about the smart grid and how it works?  Watch the video below: