June 5th, 2009
From Green Right Now Reports
ComEd has selected the City of Elgin to be part of its Advanced Metering Infrastructure pilot, which the utility says is largest test of smart grid technologies in the Midwest. Subject to Illinois Commerce Commission approval, the city will receive 10,000 “smart meters” as part of ComEd’s one-year pilot.
Elgin is among 10 municipalities participating in ComEd’s Community Energy Challenge, a program designed to generate creative, locally-driven approaches to help communities meet their environmental sustainability objectives.
In addition to Elgin, other communities involved in the test include Aurora, Carol Stream, Evanston, Highland Park, Hoffman Estates, Oak Park, Orland Park, Schaumburg and Wilmette. Every municipality in the program will be allocated incentive funding to increase electric energy efficiency in homes, businesses and public buildings in the participating communities.
Smart meters are computerized display units that provide consumers with up-to-the-minute information about their energy consumption and costs.
“Smart meters are a building block of a Smart Grid system. By providing much better information about electricity, they will enable residents to make decisions about energy usage to improve energy efficiency, cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce energy bills,” Val R. Jensen, vice president of Marketing and Environmental Programs at ComEd, said in a statement. “Elgin is in the vanguard of Smart Grid technology implementation in northern Illinois. We will work closely with the town to analyze their findings to help create a model for communities across the country to follow for future Smart Grid implementation projects.”
ComEd filed a petition June 1 with the Illinois Commerce Commission recommending which communities should participate in the pilot. If approved, approximately 141,000 smart meters will be deployed in the City of Chicago, 11 suburban communities and in Elgin in the first-ever pilot to comprehensively assess how customers will interact with this new technology.
Based on the strength of the municipal energy plans, ComEd, along with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), also announced a decision to increase from $2 million to $3.65 million an energy efficiency reserve that will be allocated over the next year for the 10 participating CEC municipalities. The funds will enable the communities to implement projects that deliver cost-effective and verifiable energy efficiency savings in both the private and public sector.
After the community projects are implemented in the next year, the communities will be evaluated on how well the plans were implemented. Based on energy reduction per capita, one community will receive $100,000. All 10 communities are eligible to win the cash prize.
