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May 15, 2008 6:24 pm US/Mountain
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Xcel Launches Smart Grid Project In Boulder
Reporting
Paul Day
BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) ―
Details of how Boulder will become the first "Smart Grid" city in America were announced Thursday by Xcel Energy.
"If you look at one of the assumptions of our grid today, it is that the utility has provide supply that equals demand, but the demand keeps growing; we need to find a way for customers to regulate their own demand so we don't keep building more and more power plants," said Ray Gogel, Xcel's chief administrative officer.
CBS4 learned Wednesday from a Boulder city official why the concept will be so exciting for environmentally conscious consumers.
"Well, there's less carbon footprint and that's what Boulder is all about," says Kara Mertz, Smart Grid project manager for the City of Boulder.
Boulder homes and businesses have a total of 50,000 power meters that will be changed out for Smart Grid meters by the end of this year.
This allows consumers to select when and how they use their power, explains Mertz.
As an example, she says, they'll be able to pick renewable energies like wind and solar, and do it when it's most affordable.
Also, plug-in hybrid cars could send power stored in their batteries back to the grid.
"If you allow the power company to draw from your battery, then you would get a credit on your electric bill," says Mertz.
Boulder had previously committed to reducing its carbon emissions 7 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2012.
Implementing Smart Grid is expected to advance the city towards its' goal by 25 percent, says Mertz.
Xcel maintains power grids today basically operate the same as they did 100 years ago, but utilities are under mounting pressure to reduce their use of fossil fuels because of concerns for harming the environment and contributing to climate change.
Smart Grid is a $100 million pilot project aimed at creating the power grid of the future. It is funded totally by Xcel Energy and its partners at no cost to consumers.
The hope is it will become the wave of the future.
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