Sen. Murray Announces $35M in Smart Grid Recovery Funding to Create Jobs, Reduce Energy Costs

Snohomish County PUD, Avista receive funding to create more reliable, efficient and secure power grid

October 27, 2009 -- (WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) announced that two Washington state smart grid projects will received a combined $35,825,817 in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). This funding comes from a $3.4 billion national investment in smart grid technology to help ease the nation’s transition to a smarter, stronger, more efficient and reliable electric system.

Article continues below...

“Investments in smart grid technology will create good jobs right here in Washington state and will help reduce energy costs for families and businesses,” said Senator Patty Murray. “These funds will help Washington state remain at the forefront of the clean-energy economy and will help keep our power grid reliable and secure.”

Snohomish County Public Utilities District: $15,825,817
Funds will support the installation of a smart grid framework on the utility side, including a digital telecommunications network, substation automation and a robust distribution system infrastructure, that will allow enable the implementation of future smart grid technologies including smart meters that will provide real time energy use information to customers.

Avista Utilities- Spokane: $20,000,000
Funds will support the implementation of a distribution management system, intelligent end devices, and a communication network to reduce distribution system loses, enable automatic restoration to customers during outages, and allow for the integration of on-site generating resources.

As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee, Senator Murray fought for clean energy funding to be included in the Recovery Act. Senator Murray voted to pass the Recovery Act on February 13th. The bill was signed into law by President Obama on February 17th.

Source: Senator Patty Murray