Xcel Energy continues smart-grid project
The utility has installed about 15,000 residential "smart meters" in Boulder and is looking for 10,000 more households willing to let Xcel put in more of them. The meters provide two-way communication to the utility and to customers.
Customers with smart meters can monitor their energy use and, when combined with programmable thermostats and other energy-saving devices, control their use. Xcel Energy plans to set up an Internet portal in April or May so customers can better manage their electricity use.
Xcel has strung more than 100 miles of fiberoptic cable over power lines in Boulder for broadband transmission.
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New energy projects seek to lower electricity costs in Southeast Alaska
ANCHORAGE - New projects are under development throughout the region to help reduce energy costs for Southeast Alaska residents. A panel presented some of those during last week’s Southeast Conference annual fall meeting in Ketchikan.
Jodi Mitchell is with Inside Passage Electric Cooperative, which is working on the Gunnuk Creek hydroelectric project for Kake. IPEC is a non-profit, she said, with the goal of reducing electric rates for its members.
The Gunnuk Creek project will be built at an existing dam.
“The benefits for the project will be, of course, renewable energy for Kake. And we estimate it will save about 6.2 million…
