SMECO denied grant for meters

Money would have paid for upgrades

Friday, Oct. 30, 2009

SMECO, a customer-owned cooperative utility company serving the region, had requested in August a $40.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, half the expected cost of installing sophisticated power meters and other hardware and software upgrades designed to distribute power more effectively and encourage customers to conserve.

On Tuesday, the utility learned that the application had been denied, spokesman Tom Dennison said.

On a visit to Florida also on Oct. 27, President Barack Obama announced the recipients of $3.4 billion in federal stimulus money to be used to boost energy efficiency, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Energy. The only recipient in Maryland is Baltimore Gas & Electric Company, which won a $200-million grant to "deploy a smart meter network" and improve the company's control over its grid, according to the department of energy.

Despite the setback, SMECO plans to go ahead with its plan to install "smart meters" within the next five years, Dennison said, though the grant would have let the company finish the project in three years. The new meters on homes and businesses will be able to report power usage hourly to the company to be analyzed by computer. This will allow SMECO to track use remotely and make it easier to provide up-to-date meter readings to customers. It will also help customers plan power use for cheaper, off-peak times and pick a rate structure, while helping the company with pricing decisions.

However, the company is postponing plans to develop a "smart grid" that would give the company greater control of its power distribution, Dennison said.

"Essentially, [a smart grid] detects everything from certain voltage regulations to faults on lines, and it is self-healing, is a good way of describing it. That's a way to try to make people understand it, is that it's a process by which the system can detect a problem, fix the problem and have it done seamlessly," he said.

Jen Stutsman, a spokeswoman for the department of energy, said she could not comment on specific applications but said the 389 requests "went through a rigorous merit review and selection process where applications were reviewed by four or five expert reviewers who examined the technical, business operability and security aspects of each application."

Also taken into account were the likelihood of job creation, geographic distribution, pace of implementation and distribution between large and small projects, she said, as well as the company's ability to match the federal funds.

Ken Robinson, a District 1 Democratic candidate for Charles County commissioner who praised the grant application, did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Robinson has championed alternative power by erecting a wind turbine next to his Swan Point home as a protest against Mirant Mid-Atlantic's power plant in Morgantown.

emitrano@somdnews.com