Last month, we saw Uncle Sam (or Uncle Chu, to be more
accurate)
dish out$800 million in grants for alternative
transportation and renewable energy projects. That was small
potatoes compared to the grants unveiled by President Obama
at
FPL Group 's (NYSE: FPL) DeSoto Next
Generation Solar Energy Center earlier this week. The Smart
Grid Investment Grant awards, part of the greater stimulus
plan, weigh in at $3.4 billion.
Let's take a look at where our money is going.
Houston's
CenterPoint Energy and Baltimore Gas &
Electric, the regulated utility arm of
Constellation Energy Group (NYSE: CEG),
pulled down $200 million apiece for smart meter deployment in
their respective cities. The "
smart grid," being pushed by everyone from
GE (NYSE: GE) to
Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), is one vision of a
path to reduce electricity consumption and increase the
efficiency of this country's energy distribution network.
Fresno, Calif., residents might tell you that smart meters
are a total ripoff, and only drive rates higher. Whether boon
or boondoggle, they're coming to a city near you.
In the realm of electric distribution systems,
Consolidated Edison got the biggest grant,
weighing in at $136 million. This will go toward implementing
automation, monitoring, and two-way communication in Con Ed's
New York/New Jersey service area.
There wasn't much funding allocated to the smart appliance
category, but
Whirlpool did walk away with a little cash to
develop devices like smart dryers that modify electricity
consumption in response to variable or time-of-use utility
pricing.
Finally, in the integrated and/or crosscutting systems
category, a catch-all for multi-faceted smart grid
deployment, big winners included
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK),
Progress Energy , and of course FPL. Each
picked up $200 million for their comprehensive projects.
While utilities caught the headlines, plenty of other
companies stand to benefit from this government greening of
the grid. Two names that spring to mind are
Echelon (Nasdaq: ELON) and
Quanta Services (NYSE: PWR), but perhaps
you've got an even more compelling smart grid play. Go ahead
and share an idea in the comments section below.
This article was originally published as
Giant Grants for the Smart Gridon
Fool.com
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