EVERETT — Someday in the not-too-distant future, the utility company could turn on your water heater just before you come home from work — a move that would save energy.
If you were curious about just how much power that new washer and dryer suck down, you could check your household energy use moment-to-moment on the home computer.
The Snohomish County PUD learned Tuesday the federal government plans to send a big check its way that should pave the way for innovations like these.
The feds have slated $15.8 million for the PUD to install 156 miles of fiber-optic telecommunication cable throughout Snohomish County. The money is part of $3.4 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act devoted to modernizing the nation’s electrical system.
President Barack Obama announced the payout Tuesday at a solar energy station in Florida. He said the money would promote more energy-saving choices for consumers, bump up efficiency and encourage the growth of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.
The PUD was one of 100 companies, utilities and cities that received awards nationwide and only one of two in the state; the other was Spokane’s Avista Utilities.
The Snohomish County project is expected to start next year and take three years and bring as many as 76 new jobs to the county, PUD general manager Steve Klein said.
It should make the PUD’s system more efficient and reliable.
The planned infrastructure is “smart grid technology,” a system that monitors and responds to changing conditions. It uses a broad range of technologies, both hardware and software, which when linked together are able to communicate to optimize how electricity is generated, transmitted, distributed and used.
The money pays for a framework that includes a digital communications network and automated substations that will make it possible for workers to respond faster and more effectively when bad weather knocks down power lines.
It should help the PUD more efficiently manage energy sources such as solar and wind that deliver energy intermittently.
The PUD is paying for the other half of the $31 million project.
Debra Smith: 425-339-3197, dsmith@heraldnet.com.
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