The DPU will also form a collaborative team to examine the smart grid pilot projects of all four of the investor-owned utility companies and ensure that there is consistency across programs that will enable the DPU to evaluate approaches and standards on a statewide basis.
The collaborative effort will include a range of stakeholders, including representatives of each investor-owned utility (NSTAR, National Grid, Western Massachusetts Electric Company and Unitil), as well as other interested parties such as the Office of the Attorney General.
NSTAR’s $16m pilot project, which is expected to run through 2012, is funded half by ratepayer charges and half by federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants from the US Department of Energy (DOE). The specific funding sources are DOE’s Smart Grid Investment Grant Program and Smart Grid Demonstration Program Funding Opportunity.
Paul Hibbard, chairman of DPU, said: “By allowing consumers to manage their energy use, smart grid technologies allow consumers to save money while reducing the environmental impact of our energy system. I look forward to seeing the results of NSTAR’s pilot project as it is rolled out in Newton, Hopkinton, and Jamaica Plain in the weeks ahead.”
Under the DPU-approved project, NSTAR will provide residential customers in the three communities with programmable thermostats and smart grid in-home technologies that will enable customers to monitor energy consumption and costs, and reduce electric load during high-price peak power use periods.
In addition, the DPU’s order authorizes NSTAR to install smart grid technologies in its underground distribution network in Boston’s Back Bay.
