Duke Energy slashes Indiana smart-grid plan
Duke Energy goes back to Indiana regulators next week looking for approval of a scaled-down proposal for smart grid operations in that state.
Despite the promise of more efficient energy use, greater reliability and new services, smart grid is often proving a tough sell. It certainly was in Indiana. In November, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission shot down Duke’s initial $450 million proposal for a complete rollout of the digital, interactive technology across the state.
The commission said there were no demonstrable benefits for customers.
Now, says SNL Energy, Duke is back with a much smaller $22 million proposal. Duke has gone from proposing installing 800,000 smart meters over six years trying the system with 40,000 meters over about a year.
The company will collect data for a year after that. It then hopes to be able to demonstrate to regulators in the state that the program should be implemented statewide.
Ohio regulators have approved a full scale smart-grid plan for Duke in that state.
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