When the federal government released $45 million to begin work on the country’s largest “smart grid” demonstration project it also underscored the importance of the Inland Northwest clean energy companies. These home-grown innovators are generating solutions in energy efficiency for smart grid applications that will become key components of the Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project.
The $178 million federally designated smart grid demonstration project gets underway in the rolling fields of eastern Washington with a distinctly home-grown feel. The study will involve more than 60,000 metered customers in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming and make Pullman, Wash. the region’s first “Smart City.”
Much of the technology was developed within a 100-mile area that has quietly stepped to the forefront of energy efficiency expertise for smart grid application. Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, which grew into a worldwide business in Pullman, and Itron, a globally known company headquartered an hour away in Liberty Lake, Wash., are key partners in the demonstration project. Their solutions will be a big part of the devices, software and advanced analytical tools tested by the project.
Other partners include Avista Utilities the city of Pullman, Washington State University, Hewlett Packard and Spirae.
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