On March 9th, Duke Energy received approval from the NC Utilities Commision for a pilot project to establish a miniature “smart grid” involving 200 customers in south Charlotte. The initiative will combine 50 kilowatts of solar capacity, smart meters and storage batteries to determine how to use new technology in the most efficient and effective ways to save energy and improve service reliability. Participating customers will receive incentives of up to $10 on each monthly bill, in addition to any energy savings the program produces.This week, Duke Energy announced it will be working with Cisco Systems to bring smart grid technology to its 11 million customers. The two companies have entered into a three-year partnership that will feature two-way digital communication to increase efficiency and use less energy. The companies are comparing their effort to an "energy internet" that will replace the current analog electric grid with advanced digital technology. The improvements will be added to the electric grid as well as to individual homes in five states.
To learn more about smart grids, check out GE's ecomagination Plug into the Smart Grid or Wikipedia.
