Dominion power aims to revolutionize the way it distributes electricity, beginning in Charlottesville, VA. On Tuesday morning, members of Albemarle County board of supervisors, the Charlottesville city council, Governor Tim Kaine and Dominion CEO, Tom Farrell, met along the city’s pedestrian mall to announce Dominion’s new Smart Grid initiative. John Casteen, president of the University of Virginia, was also in attendance. With implementation expected to be completed in the next few months, Charlottesville and the surrounding area will be among the first in Virginia to use the technology on a large scale.
Smart Grid meters allow data to be sent in real time from residential and commercial locations to Dominion, allowing very fast monitoring of energy usage, peak hours, and overall efficiency. The system will assist in better calculating better levels of base-load power, in addition to allowing customers to monitor their personal usage and make changes based on on-and-off peak rates.
Dominion is strumming a fresh chord with this initiative. Formerly a company who treated the “e” word as if it were lethal, the Smart Grid will hopefully aid Dominion in coming to the realization that money can, and will be, made through more efficient distribution promoting conservation among its customers. In the past, utilities have generated profits through increased demand and production. Massive economies of scale wherein cost is reduced through sheer numbers helped to keep giants like Dominion afloat without the need for increases in efficiency standards. While the world rests in economic purgatory, businesses are forced to remodel the way things get done. We’ve all heard, “small is beautiful.” Well, efficiency is marked by small gains aimed at strategic cost-cutting that serve to save energy producers billions in lost energy due to outdated technology. “Everyone benefits from efficiency,” says Farrell. For the first time in a long time, Dominion may be correcting course from a prolonged history of avoiding improvements in their distribution network and dumping the costs on consumers.
Governor Kaine offered congratulatory words to the town and Farrell, citing gains made by state government through his Renew Virginia initiative as well as applauding the, “passion of locals,” embodying “characteristic humility and modesty.” Kaine, who has stifled on environmental policy throughout his tenure, called for Virginia to remain on the crest of the “tidal wave” that is changing energy priorities. The project, according to Kaine, opens the commonwealth to a “whole series of opportunities” for Virginia to become a real leader in energy tech as we move into the 21st century.
The $600 million project bodes well for Charlottesville, a town characterized by progressive attitudes toward energy and the environment. Hopes are that this initiative, with a total of 47,000 smart meters at its completion, will set an example for other communities and energy companies in the state.
Is this another case of Dominion greenwashing? Yes, and no. The Smart Grid program allows consumers and producers to better structure the way electricity is generated and used, leading to higher profit margins and less waste, ideally to be passed on to ratepayers. These improvements have the potential to be good for all of us. If Dominion learns from this experiment, efficiency will likely become a statewide priority. A corporation that blocked a proposed efficiency bill last year is now taking the lead on a new energy future for Virginia. Now if we could wean them off coal, we’d be going places. However, I’m not holding my breath. You haven’t earned our trust, yet.
