Smart Grid Demonstration Program
The Smart Grid Demonstration Program is composed of regional demonstration projects and utility-scale energy storage projects.
In the regional studies, project teams verify Smart Grid technology viability, quantify costs and benefits, and validate new business models that can later be adapted and replicated around the country. The goal of these projects is to provide the information necessary to enable customers, electricity distributors, and electricity generators to change their behavior to reduce electric power system demands and costs, increase energy efficiency, match electricity demand and resources, and increase the reliability of the grid.
In the energy storage projects, teams are working toward advancements in grid-scale energy storage. Electric power system operators can use electricity storage devices to manage the amount of power required to supply customers at times when the need is greatest, which is during peak load. In addition, energy storage devices can:
- Make renewable energy resources, whose power output cannot be controlled by grid operators, more manageable
- Balance microgrids to achieve a good match between generation and load
- Provide frequency regulation to maintain the balance between the network's load and power generated
- Enable deferment of transmission and distribution investments
- Provide a more reliable power supply for high-tech industrial facilities.
The Smart Grid Demonstration Program is authorized by Title XIII of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (PDF 821 KB). Download Adobe Reader. This was later amended by the Recovery Act. The Research and Development Division within the Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability manages this program. Approved projects receive federal financial assistance for up to 50% of total project cost.
Learn more about Smart Grid Demonstration Program projects by exploring these project categories: