A stimulus project to save energy and money

Our Opinion

Friday, Aug. 21, 2009

The cooperative has requested a $40.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The money is half of the expected to cost to upgrade the power grid and put "smart" meters in the homes of Southern Maryland residents. These are improvements in the way electricity is distributed that could lead to new energy efficiencies.

Right now, analog meters are attached to just about every home and business in Southern Maryland. Those are the meters that have the little spinning dials. As those dials spin, the electricity bill is going up. They rarely stop turning. The air conditioner or heat pump is running while the family is at work and school, the refrigerator is running and the alarm clock on the nightstand is on.

But it's in the evening when the dials really start spinning. We cook dinner on our electric stoves, we switch on the TV, we pop popcorn in the microwave. We run the dishwasher, charge our cell phones and throw a load of laundry into the dryer. We hop on the computer to pay a bill or check e-mail or watch a video.

Then we go to bed. The lights are turned off, the air conditioner doesn't have to work as hard and the house is quiet.

That surge in electricity usage is costing everyone because the price goes up during peak hours, and right now there's no real way to see that, short of standing outside of the house and watching the dials spin.

With the addition of a smart meter, customers can see what they're doing, and may be persuaded to spread their power usage out a little. Modern dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers have timers. They can be set to turn and do their actual work at 2 a.m., when power is cheaper.

People might become more conscious of switching off lights, if they can actually see the difference it can make in the their electric bill.

The federal stimulus money is intended to create and save jobs and millions of dollars are showing up in St. Mary's County for a variety of projects. The public schools are getting $6.5 million. Road crews will soon be resurfacing northern and southern stretches of Route 5 using $4.8 million in stimulus money.

If this SMECO grant comes, and the project is approved by the Maryland Public Service Commission, it would accomplish three things. It would create jobs. It would rebuild the electrical infrastructure to conserve electricity. And ultimately it would save residents money.

The best elements of the federal government's efforts to spend us out of the recession are those that will save money and energy in the long run, and this project would be one of them.