grid

State government buildings in downtown Santa Fe will soon have their heating, cooling and lighting controlled remotely from San Francisco. Staci Matlock of The New Mexican says a network center there will help manage the energy flows to make sure there is enough during "peak demand" times. Remote-controlled electricity is part of a new power program, called "Smart Grid" designed to save both electricity and money. The plan is part of a long-range state goal to reduce energy use in executive branch agencies to 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2015.

 Seattle’s KPLU has an interesting tidbit about a new service being offered by local utilities: Free Microsoft software that allows residents to customize their power use, saving money and reducing their carbon footprint. http://bit.ly/UHLke It’s in beta mode for now: http://mshohm.orcsweb.com/, and called Hohm (that's home + ohm). Google recently launched a similar application called PowerMeter:  http://www.google.org/powermeter/  . Could these be the first baby steps toward the vaunted “smart grid?”