I agree that there is a paradigm shift in the making (since the 80s), but disagree it is on the supply side as was envisioned in EPAct 92 and Open Transmission Access. As the late M.I.T. professor Fred C. Schweppe envisioned, the coming paradigm shift is more on the demand side, where small is beautiful. The shift is about introducing the information and communications technologies (ICT)revolution to get the power industry into a higher performance plateau.

For that reason, I suggest that it is not necessary, nor convenient, to increase the ceiling of funding to satisfy IOUs, as you wrote under the feature article Smart Grid Stimulus Bill: DOE Snubs IOUs and Meters: "According to the Washington Post and others, the DOE may raise the ceiling 'after major electric utilities complained that the proposed $20 million-per-grant limit was too low to encourage commercial-scale deployment of advanced technologies.' One DOE spokesman said they might have a two-track system, one for small projects, one for large."

That is a way to through good money after bad. Please read my explanation, which touches on the paradigm shift, with the post “DOEs WISE NOI for an FOA"

Thanks,