Sempre Energy Pegged As Smart Grid Leader

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For the second straight year, Sempra Energy's San Diego Gas & Electric is the most intelligent utility in America, according to the annual UtiliQ survey of U.S. electric utilities. ARRA funding is cited as source of significant impact on smart grid improvements in 2010.

The UtiliQ rankings aim is to cut through the smart grid hype and provide benchmarks for measuring the progress utilities are making on the path to intelligent energy.

The top 5 scoring utilities for the 2010 UtiliQ rankings:

Sempra Energy's San Diego Gas & Electric

Austin Energy

PG&E Corporation

FPL Group, Inc. (now NextEra)

NV Energy, Inc.

NV Energy, Inc., headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, jumped 50 positions from its ranking in last year's report to claim the fifth spot in the 2010 ranking of intelligent utilities.

The UtiliQ ranking uses five criteria to evaluate utilities: operational efficiency, commitment to integrating renewables, smart energy initiatives, demand response/energy efficiency programs, and information technology investments in support of business process improvements.

All but three of the top 25 intelligent utilities received "near genius" scores in smart grid IQ, indicating the importance of smart grid developments for achieving utility intelligence.

Compared to last year's study, the 2010 UtiliQ report collected more comprehensive data from authoritative industry sources, including SNL Energy, FERC, AWEA, NREL and EEI.

It's clear that $11 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for smart grid activities contributed considerably toward increasing utility intelligence during 2010.

Many of the utilities receiving ARRA awards last fall are pursuing plans that will have them contributing more to their smart grid projects than the required 50/50 match.

A complete list of the top 25 utilities can be found in the July/August issue of Intelligent Utility Magazine.

Environment + Energy Leader