In this Oct. 14, 2009 photo, Philip A. Macey, senior associate of RNL Design of Denver, stands near his design, the Research Support Facilities Project for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo. Homes and office buildings consume three-quarters of U.S. electricity, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory wants to lower that figure by erecting what it believes will be the largest "net-zero" energy building in the world, one that produces as much power onsite as it uses. The Department of Energy, which runs the Golden-based lab nestled in the foothills west of Denver, and its contractors hope the $64 million structure will provide a national blueprint for making buildings greener and cutting energy use. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
The Goal of the $150M project is to enable customers to reduce energy use and save money.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Power generator American Electric Power on Tuesday received $75 million in federal stimulus money for its demonstration project in Ohio designed to boost reliability and improve the electricity grid.
The project is one of 32 being funded across the country at a cost of $620 million.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the award for AEP while visiting the company's technology center in nearby Groveport. He said the grants set "the course for a modern grid that is critical to achieving our energy goals."
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The awards will be leveraged with $1 billion in money from the companies and groups receiving grants.
AEP, which is based in Columbus, is planning a demonstration project for 110,000 customers in Ohio that includes technology such as smart meters and appliances, plug-in electric vehicles, energy and battery storage, renewable generation sources and ways to make the grid more efficient and reliable.
The meters would be connected to a Web site that would allow consumers to see how much power they're using, and when. Eventually, AEP could charge less for electricity during off-peak hours and encourage customers to cut their power bills by doing some tasks, such as running clothes dryers, at those times.
The goal of the $150 million project is to enable customers to reduce energy use and save money.
The company serves 5.2 million customers in 11 states.
The projects across the country include large-scale energy storage, distribution and transmission-system monitoring devices, and in-home systems to help customers reduce energy use. The projects will act as models for deploying these systems on a broader scale.
Implementing these improvements can reduce electricity use by more than 4 percent by 2030 and save about $20.4 billion, or about $60 a year per person in Ohio on electricity costs, the Energy Department said, citing figures from the Electric Power Research Institute.
A month ago, the government awarded $3.4 billion in stimulus funds to start modernizing the nation's electricity grid, including extensive rollout of smart meters designed to provide more information to consumers about electricity use.