Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

Smart grid refers to the use of high technology to efficiently transmit and deliver electricity to homes and businesses.   Senator Bingaman chaired an Energy and Natural Resources committee hearing this week on the smart grid and opened the hearing with the following:

"We foresee that smart grid technologies can make the transmission system more efficient, reducing line loss and reducing congestion which causes higher costs.  Also, that it can make the transmission and distributions systems more reliable by allowing quicker response to failures in the event of emergencies.  Further, customers can take advantage of computerized meters and appliances to reduce demand at peak hours through shifting load to off-peak hours.  This reduces the need for peak generation, reducing emissions and lowering costs."

One component of the smart grid is smart metering, a potential way consumers will be able to monitor their energy consumption in real time, giving them more control over use and cost.  Smart metering will allow consumers to view their level of energy use and will provide them with the opportunity to adjust their appliances and distribution systems to a level that is practical and affordable for their household.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funded grant programs that had been established in 2007 to help anticipate problems that might arise during smart grid installation on a commercial scale.  The grants also authorized investments in the installation, development, and manufacture of these technologies.  Funding from the Recovery and Reinvestment Act will help spur the smart grid, and is one of the first major steps in restructuring our energy system, a priority both for President Obama and Senator Bingaman.

You can watch an exchange between Senator Bingaman and Mr. Edward Lu of Google, Inc. on our YouTube page, or using RealPlayer.