Avista to apply for

smart grid stimulus:  Washington State IOU Avista is looking for a $20 million matching grant from DOE's Smart Grid Investment Grant Program, it told the press yesterday.  Avista will invest $22 million in the Spokane Smart Grid Project that it said is focused on reliability and efficiency upgrades to the electric distribution system.  System operations would benefit immediately and the work would help Avista “prepare for the next phase of the smart grid which will extend from generation, across transmission to homes and businesses,” Don Kopczynski, Avista vice president for T&D operations, said in a prepared statement.  The utility serves 353,000 electric and 313,000 natural gas customers in three western states. 

CenterPoint installs

45,000 smart meters:  CenterPoint Energy's distribution subsidiary Houston Electric completed the deployment of 45,000 smart meters, it told the press yesterday.  The energy delivery firm began delivering smart meter functionality such as 15-minute interval reads to retail electric providers.  The REPs can now view those customers' use over an interim CenterPoint web site.  A consumer-facing website is under development, the firm reported.  CenterPoint's five-year smart meter deployment began in March with the goal of installing 2.4 million meters (SGT, Apr-06). 

New York realtor

announces energy portal:  New York-based real estate trust Vornado Realty announced the introduction of its energy intelligence portal, a new web-based application that lets sub-metered tenants access to their power bills online in addition to giving a convenient and intelligent way to review and understand their energy profile and carbon footprint.  The portal will provide tenants a standard bill that shows the accumulation of kwhs during the billing period plus hourly use stats, too.  For the first time, tenants can review their use profile on an hourly basis and see how their energy use is being used on a time-of-day basis.  Where there are multiple meters installed in the premises, the user may drill down to the use on individual meters.

UK government OKs

big grid spending:  UK energy regulator Ofgem approved a 25% boost in investment in Britain's power distribution networks over the next five years, in part to boost smart grid technology, the Financial Times newspaper's website reported yesterday (www.smartgridtoday.com/snip/170.htm).  The approved capital spending is 17% less than power firms asked for, said the report.  Every home in the UK is set to get a smart meter according to legislation announced by the UK government in May (SGT, May-12).  The UK Dept of Energy & Climate Change is implementing the law.

GE, VC executive team

up on policy message:  America faces a “competitiveness crisis” and needs to make five basic policy changes, including new rules of the road that make the utilities a driving force for repowering America, driving efficiency through incentives, a renewable electricity standard and a national unified smart grid, John Doerr, a partner in the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt wrote in an opinion piece published yesterday in the Washington Post (www.smartgridtoday.com/snip/169.htm).