Smart grids produce resilient power infrastructure | 05.14.2008 | 13:23:55 | Views: 6753 | ID: May 14 '08: Xcel Energy has announced a first-of-its-kind project in Boulder, Colorado to build a Smart Grid City power infrastructure. Planners of the $100 million project said their goal was to create a resilient and flexible power system designed to evolve to daily power needs. Creating smart grids is a next step for federal, state and local officials and infrastructure stakeholders who see a smart, flexible system as a way to build preparedness, resiliency and sustainable best practices into communities. In Canada, energy infrastructure officials are working to build consensus on the ways that smart grids will help communities evolve to the changing world markets and climate. Electric Utility Consultants Inc. said working to build smart grids helps provide "concrete steps toward the future smart grid, one which is efficient, intelligent and robust." Already, there are partnerships which seek to monitor power infrastructure failure, or other power delivery contingencies, such as an announced partnership between Intergraph, Siemens, and Oncor Electric Delivery. Using Intergraph's G/Electric (Industryware) Smart Grid Technology mashed with geospatial capabilities, electric utility companies can integrate "a next-generation GIS environment for everything from facility planning, design, and construction operations, maintenance, and emergency response." The Associated Press reported that smart grids also will help reduce costs on the consumer during peak usage periods throughout the year: "Done right, the smarter grid should save consumers money in the long run by reducing the need for new power plants, which we pay off in our monthly electric bills." The Boulder Smart Grid City project will be funded in part by Xcel Energey and leveraged government grants, a press release announced last March. To help design the project, Xcel created the Smart Grid Consortium which steered the power network's direction. Among the partners of the consortium were Accenture, Current, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, and Ventyx. National Blueprint Tags: Economic & Infrastructure.(Click below to download file) regional-disaster-guide.pdf
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