WHITE HOUSE ROLLING OUT OUR FUTURE - Biden Announces Grants to Fuel National Smart Grid

Vice President Joe Biden details the $3.3-billion plan to modernize the nations aging electrical system and create thousands of jobs.

By Rebecca Cole - 3:30 PM PDT, April 16, 2009

Reporting from Washington -- Vice President Joe Biden today unveiled details for distributing more than $3.3 billion in stimulus funding for grants to drive the rollout of a nationwide electrical smart grid.

The grid is a digitally networked set of devices that can communicate with each other to more efficiently deliver electricity by monitoring demand from customers and power generation.

A major plank of the Obama administration's "rebuilding America" pledge, the smart grid has been touted as a way to modernize the nation's aging electrical system and move the country off fossil fuels while creating thousands of jobs.

Under the plan, the Department of Energy will provide grants up to $20 million for smart-grid technology deployments and up to $5 million for the deployment of grid monitoring devices.

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