On Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2009, CenterPoint Energy held a press event at the Port of Houston to announce that it had applied to the U.S. Department of Energy for a $200 million stimulus grant for a project titled “Houston’s Smart Grid:  Transforming the Future of Electric Distribution & Energy Consumption.”

Cllck on the video links below to see and hear the speakers' remarks:

• Floyd LeBlanc, VP Corporate Communications, CenterPoint Energy
• Bill Crews, manager Security and Emergency Operations, Port of Houston Authority 
• Tom Standish, senior VP and group president, Regulated Operations, CenterPoint Energy
• The honorable Gene Green, U.S. House of Representatives - 29th Congressional District of Texas

The project involves two distinct but interdependent parts. If granted, CenterPoint Energy will use $150 million of the requested $200 million grant to accelerate its current smart meter and associated equipment installation that make up its Advanced Metering System (AMS). The $50 million balance will be used to accelerate the installation of the first phase of CenterPoint Energy's Intelligent Grid (IG) that utilizes the AMS and other technologies to build a self-healing grid, and improve operational efficiency and reliability. 

For more information on smart meters and the intelligent grid, click on the links to the left under  Smart Meters.