Gov. Tim Kaine, UVA President John Casteen, Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris, Albemarle Board of Supervisors Chairman David Slutzky and Dominion President, Chairman and CEO Thomas Farrell gathered this morning on the Downtown Mall to announce that Charlottesville is now Virginia’s first city in Dominion Power’s ‘Smart Grid’ Network, which is meant to conserve power and lower electric bills.
The meters are built to operate as two-way communication devices that not only send and receive information with Dominion, but also allow company’s officials to communicate directly with meters in customers’ homes, Dominion Director of Business Planning and Strategic Solutions Richard Walden told C-VILLE.
This communication allows Dominion officials to turn power back on in homes and businesses during a power outage or even automatically cycle air conditioning temperatures, so that homes conserve power while residents are at work, he explained.
More after the photos.
Gov. Tim Kaine announces Charlottesville is the first city in Virginia to be on the Smart Grid Network. UVA President John Casteen, County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Slutzky and Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris were also in attendance.
The new meters are designed to be two-way communication devices.
(Photo Courtesy of Dominion)
According to Farrell, half of the 46,500 smart meters have already been installed and the rest, which only take a few minutes to install, will be in place by the end of the year.
Farrell explained this smart grid technology will help people to be more aware of their energy use and, in turn, more aware of how they can conserve power.
“We now have the technology to equip the 20th century power grid with 21st century technology,” he said, noting that Charlottesville is the perfect city in the Commonwealth to test this infrastructure.
“If this can work in Charlottesville, it can work anywhere,” Dominion Corporate Communications Managing Director Chet Wade told C-VILLE.
The hills in Charlottesville present a good topography to test the strength of the radio signals that the meters use to communicate. Also, the large influx of students every fall dramatically increases the pressure on the system.
Norris and Slutzky explained that the Smart Grid was in line with their work to make the city and county more environmentally friendly.
“We are dedicated to environmental sustainability and this is the perfect way to do that,” Norris he said in an interview. “This system is step one in a much longer process.”
For both the city and county, the next step in environmental sustainability will be to create financial incentives for homeowners, business owners and building companies through the development of clean energy financing programs.
These financial incentives might be similar to the ones already established on a state level, such as the rate of return available to power companies for environmental conservation investments, Kaine told C-VILLE, noting that he hopes to expand that program and move forward with other incentives like electrifying rest stops to charge plug-in hybrids.
“These are just a few examples of the ways Virginia can succeed in a green economy and do something good for the environment,” Kaine said.