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Illinois smart grid projects

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Naperville smart grid initiative

The City of Naperville smart grid project involves a city-wide deployment of an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and an expansion of distribution automation capabilities, which includes circuit switches, remote fault indicators, and smart relays. Customers are allowed to purchase devices that assist in managing electricity use and costs, including in-home displays, programmable communicating thermostats, and direct load control devices for participation in load management programs. This project allows: (1) participants to view their energy use through in-home displays, a web portal, or both; and (2) Naperville to manage, measure, and verify targeted demand reductions during peak periods. The new AMI and distribution automation technologies are intended to help improve service quality and reliability, by enabling outage management, distribution circuit monitoring, and automated circuit switching. Get details >>

Midwest ISO synchrophasor deployment project

The Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (Midwest ISO) is deploying synchrophasor technology throughout its service footprint. Midwest ISO’s primary objective is to use the technology to optimize the dispatch and operation of power plants while improving the reliability of the bulk transmission system. This project deploys phasor measurement units (PMUs), phasor data concentrators, and advanced transmission software applications. This technology increases the visibility of grid operators’ bulk power system conditions in near real time, enables earlier detection of conditions that could result in grid instability or outages, and facilitate information sharing with neighboring regional control areas. Access to better system operating information allows Midwest ISO engineers to improve power system models and analytical techniques, improving the overall reliability and operating efficiency of the Midwest ISO system.  Get details >>

Energy news and trend in Illinois

The governor of Illinois is steaming – but Illinois lawmakers managed to put together enough votes to override his veto of smart grid legislation, allowing Commonwealth Edison to proceed with its plans to build out a smart grid with a rate hike expected to cost its customers about $3 more a month. Read  more from Smart Grid News>>

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Power outages and the future of the electric grid

ComEd has been getting blasted this year for power outages in the Chicagoland area, more than usual, at least in my anecdotal experience. Meanwhile, Irene has shut off electricity in vast swaths of the Northeast. Having grown up in a rural, mountainous area in the Southeast, where ice storms are less frequent but tend to be worse, I lived through days-long power outages—once watching the Winter Olympics by hooking up a portable '70s TV to a row of D batteries lined up on the floor, probably not the safest thing to do in retrospect—and kind of assumed that power outages were an intractable part of life, and, you know, cityfolk. Read more at Chicagomag.com >>

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GE turbines to add 300MW of new wind power in Illinois

Two wind farms under development in northeast Illinois are expected to add another 300 megawatts of clean-energy capacity to the state, which is fast becoming a leading wind power in the US. Read more at Greenbang >>

Rural electric co-ops in 14 states get millions for transmission and smart grid projects

Rural electric cooperatives in 14 states will get a piece of $900 million in loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help the utilities upgrade, expand, maintain and replace rural America's electric infrastructure. Among them: the Illinois Rural Electric Cooperative. Read more from Smart Grid News >>

The smart grid: A better forecast for reliable power and clean energy jobs

Crazy weather we're having, right? It's been a stormy summer, and one full of reminders about the need to invest in our electric grid. It's also a sign of things to come, according to climate scientists, who for years have been predicting stronger storms and more intense rainfall events for Illinois due to rising pollution levels. Read more from Huff Post Chicago >>