Entergy receives $9.6 million for ‘smart grid’ projects

Entergy is set to receive $9.6 million in federal stimulus money set aside for modernizing the nation’s power grid. Entergy New Orleans is set to get $5 million to install “smart meters” in 11,000 households in the Crescent City. Michael Burns, an Entergy spokesman, says the meters will allow customers and the utility company to better judge the use of power. Theoretically, customers could shut off some appliances, such as pool pumps or central air-conditioning units, when power usage hits its peak. Entergy is installing some smart meters around Baton Rouge as part of a pilot program, but the federal money will expand the use in New Orleans. Another $4.6 million will go toward installing phasor measurement units on major transmission lines, to give Entergy a real time view of how much power is traveling through the system. Both projects will give Entergy new methods of increasing efficiency, Burns says. The money is coming from $3.4 billion in grants from the government’s January economic-stimulus program.