By Jesse Berst

 

My friends on the supplier side say the smart grid market has seen a slowdown, especially in large, multi-million-dollar projects. I guess Florida Power & Light didn't get the memo. The company has just launched a $15.6 billion, five-year capital expenditure program, the largest in its history, the Palm Beach Post reported.

 

Grid improvements -- including smart grid and storm hardening -- will take up $3.6 billion of the $15.6 billion total. Another large chunk, $4.1 billion, will be used for improvements to power plants.

 

"These investments collectively produce significant customer benefits in the form of lower fuel costs, better reliability and cleaner air; and they are key to our ability to keep our customers' electric bills the lowest in the state over the long haul," said CFO Moray Dewhurst said in an April conference call with analysts.

FPL isn't alone among utilities making huge investments in the nation's infrastructure, the Palm Beach Post said. "Overall industry investment has doubled since 2004 to

$85 billion, as utilities modernize the electricity grid by replacing and building new generation, updating and building transmission and distribution infrastructure, and moving toward a smart electricity grid," said Dan Riedinger, spokesman for the Edison Electric Institute.

 

EPRI spokesman Revis James told the newspaper that "the industry isn't known for a smooth, steady growth pattern. "Typically, you go through a period of time where the need has reached a level of urgency due to large-scale growth. Then overbuilding occurs. That is what happened in the '60s and '70s," James said. He believes the power industry isn't driven by small incremental growth in population, so much as it's driven by basic sea changes, such as the introduction of air conditioning.

 

Or such as the advent of the smart grid.

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Jesse Berst is the founder and chief analyst of Smart Grid News.com, the industry's oldest and largest smart grid site. A frequent keynoter at industry events in the U.S. and abroad, he also serves on advisory committees for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Institute for Electric Efficiency. He often provides strategic consulting to large corporations and venture-backed startups. He is a member of the advisory boards of GridGlo and Calico Energy Services.

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