The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Smart grid stimulus funds to transform the utility future

smart grid stimulus funding / American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Smart grid investments expected to top $20 billion in the US. With the announcement of the Smart Grid Investment Grants (SGIG) funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the energy and utility industry is on the verge of a massive overhaul of the nation’s electric generation, transmission and distribution system. It also will facilitate changes in the way consumers make energy use decisions.

Some smart grid projects will be accelerating under the DOE grant over the next 18 to 24 months. This can mean SGIG recipients will face spending billions of dollars in a short-order—essentially overnight by utility industry standards—while navigating new government contract negotiations and reporting requirements.

Moving smart grid projects ahead—with or without SGIG

Implementing the smart grid on a national scale poses significant challenges—and opportunities—both for projects selected for a US Department of Energy (DOE) Smart Grid Investment Grant (SGIG), and for those moving ahead with projects without grant funding.

KEMA has been working extensively the nation’s leaders in grid modernization for over three decades—from substation and distribution automation, smart meters and advanced metering infrastructure, to smart grid and intelligent network and communications architecture planning, design and integration. We offer solutions rooted in deep expertise and experience for each aspect of the smart grid project process to leverage the enterprise-wide benefits of smart grid technology and operations.

We also have been actively involved in efforts to help shape energy investments in the Reinvestment Act – including authoring a Smart Grid jobs creation report on behalf of the GridWise Alliance and submitted to the Administration, and contributing to US Department of Energy reports on electricity adequacy, smart grid and energy storage as a member of the DOE’s Electric Advisory Committee.

Success factors for smart grid project implementation

Our wide range of client smart grid engagements include strategic visioning to technology, data and operations integration since the inception of the smart grid concept. We also supported multiple clients in successful SGIG award applications—totaling $493 million and representing 13 percent of the total DOE SGIG budget. Our client SGIG support engagements included application coordination, project definition and planning, budget analysis, outcomes estimation, and federal government liaison.

Throughout our smart grid work, we have developed a methodology based on proven tools and techniques that can help utilities implement their smart grid projects. We have found a number of key success factors for utilities to focus to move the nation’s smart grid build out forward effectively, efficiently and with the desired outcomes. The factors include:

Managing the SGIG process – including pre-award negotiations on the terms and conditions and meeting specific project and process, benefit attainment and reporting requirements
Managing the regulatory process – including building the business case, effectively communicating with regulators and stakeholders, and rate design for recovery and compliance
Setting up a project management office (PMO) – planning, scheduling, and controlling project activities to meet project objectives including performance / quality of the work done, cost and time objectives while controlling / maintaining the scope of the project at the correct level
Specifying the smart grid architecture – including telecommunications planning and design, standards compliance and verification, certification and testing of devices, security planning, transmission automation, and substation and distribution automation specification
Systems planning and integration – including back office system design, architecture development and testing, planning, and implementation support
Implementation and harvesting benefits – including field operations planning and resourcing RFPs, staff augmentation, and employee training
Vendor management – including developing requirements and procurement activities to guide supplier selection, evaluation, quality assurance and control, system and equipment testing and certification, and change control.
Consumer to grid connection – including customer outreach and education, customer subscription and enrollment, service pricing and tariff design, program offering design, measurement and verification of energy efficiency programs and program benefits.