The California State University system is continuously looking for ways to save money and the environment at the same time. The newest proposal is a plan to implement the Smart Grid technology system.

The CSU Board of Trustees proposed a plan to implement Smart Grid technology in 934 buildings on all 23 CSU campuses using a $77.5 million federal grant. The US Department of Energy will vote on the proposal on Nov. 3.

Smart Grid technology, invented to find and eliminate energy inefficiencies, is part of the Energy IQ demonstration project. It is predicted to cut CSU utility expenses by 15 to 20 percent.

This advanced system will use digital technology to give staff and system operators an accurate look at exactly how much energy is being used on each campus.

When the energy source is targeted, the system evaluates where and how much energy can be reduced or eliminated. This process is how the system will ultimately reduce energy costs.

"Tighter budgets and the availability of state funds to pay for energy efficiency initiatives in lieu of other vital non-energy repairs, like life safety, roads and roof repairs, are an example of the difficult, if not impossible, choices campuses have to make," said Len Pettis, CSU chief of plant, energy and utilities.

The federal grant money will come from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Matching funds would come from local agencies.

"The aim of this grant is to demonstrate the great advances in Smart Grid technologies, build a Smart Grid home on the Sacramento State campus and conduct research in support of Smart Grid and the energy and utility companies in California," said Emir Macari, dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Sciences.

The Smart Grid Center at Sac State is used as a demonstration site for the system. It is responsible for demonstrating and evaluating how the system works and will determine the benefits of Smart Grid technology.

Once the benefits are determined by the Smart Grid Center, the information is sent to SMUD and is used to solicit customers' support for the technology. Although SMUD is primarily an investor in this project, it will have staff members assist in the evaluation process of the Smart Grid technology as well.

There were two separate proposals sent to the Department of Energy in August. Macari was the principal investigator for the second proposal, "Funding Opportunity Announcement 36." It was submitted on Aug. 26 and focused directly on Sacramento State as a Smart Grid demonstration site.

The first proposal, submitted on Aug. 6, FOA 58, requested the funds to purchase Smart Grid equipment. This investment funding request would allow SMUD to install Smart Meters in almost every residence in Sacramento. SMUD predicts between 2009 and 2011, they will install more than 600,000 advanced two-way meters in the homes of their customers.

FOA 58 has already passed through the administrative evaluation process where the application is evaluated on its completeness. Now it is on its way to be technically evaluated for specifics, said Jim Parks, SMUD program director of Energy Efficiency and Customer Research and Development Group. There is no word yet on the status of FOA 36.

The awareness to the benefits of smart grid technology has steadily increased in the past few years. It has gained more support from different organizations in the energy industry. The CSU has multiple Energy IQ partners for this project including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Energy Network Operations Center, the California public and private utilities and Galvin Power, which are all leading companies in the energy industry.

According to a press release from the CSU, once fully operational, the smart grids are estimated to save system wide energy use by 90,000 megawatts per year and save the CSU $20 million annually. The CSU also predicts the generation of more than 60 megawatts of power from ultra-clean or renewable sources by 2011.

"Our world-class faculty will be developing new course curricula for students to support the new clean-green economy," Pettis said.

"This grant would allow us to hire many undergraduate and graduate students to help us with this research and their work would count for their thesis projects or senior design and independent research projects," Macari said.

Last year, under the direction of Macari, the California Smart Grid Center was created at Sac State.

Gina Cruz can be reached at [email protected].