CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Gov. Joe Manchin on Thursday visited an innovative “smart grid” initiative in Morgantown that demonstrates technologies to support electricity reliability and energy efficiency.
The Research Ridge Test Facility, developed by electricity provider Allegheny Energy and technology company Augusta Systems, demonstrates a broad array of smart grid technologies that enable improved customer energy management and advanced electricity distribution system management.
“Smart grid is a hot topic at the national level as utilities attempt to modernize their electricity delivery systems,” said Gov. Manchin. “The Research Ridge Test Facility is a great example of how smart grid innovation is occurring in West Virginia. This project demonstrates how smart grid can benefit customers in our state and throughout the nation with improved electricity delivery and cost-effective management of energy usage.”
The Research Ridge Test Facility is located at the six-building, Research Ridge business and research park in Morgantown, next to the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory. Smart grid technologies are deployed throughout the business park and at a nearby Allegheny Energy substation, which provides electricity service to the campus. The test facility demonstrates how a smart grid can link all of the various technologies, from the customer’s air conditioner to the utility’s substation, into a single, more efficient network.
“The Research Ridge Test Facility will support the eventual deployment of smart grid technologies that can increase electricity system efficiency and reliability,” said Paul Evanson, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Allegheny Energy. “Smart grid is an evolving concept, so this facility helps us determine which of the various technologies and approaches could ultimately create the biggest benefit for our customers.”
The facility demonstrates, for example, how customer energy usage could be adjusted based upon changes in electricity price. If a customer wanted to save money, the system would automatically adjust the thermostat to a different setting or control energy usage by specific appliances.
“The Research Ridge Test Facility demonstrates how Allegheny Energy is putting the ‘smart’ in smart grid,” said Patrick Esposito, chief executive officer of Augusta Systems. “This is consistent with the governor’s efforts to increase the deployment of cleaner, greener energy projects in West Virginia, while also creating new, sustainable technology job opportunities.”
West Virginia’s new alternative and renewable portfolio standards law, proposed by the governor, requires that 25 percent of the electricity sold to retail customers in West Virginia be generated from alternative and renewable energy sources by 2025, which includes provisions for energy efficiencies and environmental improvements derived from smart grid implementation.
“Addressing energy, environmental and economic issues in an integrated fashion like this is crucial to ensuring that we achieve our goals for a clean energy future,” said the governor. “Projects like the Research Ridge Test Facility demonstrate how smart grid and alternative energy projects can not only benefit customers and the environment, but also provide opportunities for jobs in West Virginia.”