Congress pushing the Smart Grid forward

by Nancy Spring, Senior Editor, Power Engineering

Washington, DC, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com]

The draft climate change bill released by House Democrats on March 31 calls on electric utilities to create a new infrastructure that will revolutionize the U.S. transportation system. Smart Grid technology will run it and clean electricity will power it.

"I would say we're asking the automotive industry to revolutionize the way they build cars and we're asking the utility industry to make sure we can charge those cars."

-- Mark Duvall, Director of Electric Transportation, Electric Power Research Institute

In the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, the Clean Energy Title (Title I) calls for the development of an electric vehicle infrastructure that would support the use of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and electric vehicles. Utilities will be weighing the merits of battery exchange and fast-charging infrastructure and other services. State regulators will also have a role to play. Among other directives, they will evaluate pricing options that would enable PHEVs and electric vehicles "to contribute to meeting peak-load power needs."

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