California Passes Smart Grid Bill

 

The three big investor-owned utilities ?EUR??,,????'?????< Courtesy of CNBC

If California utilities weren't already working on their smart grid plans, a new state law has given them a deadline to catch up to. That's July, 1, 2011 – the date set in California Senate Bill 17, passed earlier this month, for each "electrical corporation" to deliver a broad smart grid implementation plan to the California Public Utilities Commission for approval.

But first, the CPUC will have to have its own plan to judge utility plans against. That plan is due by July 1, 2010, according to the bill. Look for other states to pass legislation regarding smart grid bills. These bills could have far-reaching effects for the landscape industry.

Think of it as the state-by-state coordination with still-developing federal smart grid policy. That work is being coordinated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and represents a gargantuan effort to make sure smart grid technologies and systems work together (see Smart Grid Standards Roadmap Unveiled).

NIST's most recent smart grid roadmap sets a range of deadlines for handling top standards and interoperability issues, but all are set to be completed by the end of 2010 – six months before California's law would require utilities to report their own plans.

Of course, California utilities haven't been waiting to start deploying smart meters, distribution automation and demand response systems, and other pieces of smart grid technology.

– Courtesy of GreenTech Media