According to Bloomberg, an IDC Report predicts that the Federal Government’s economic stimulus program (ARRA)
will generate more than $100 billion in revenue for technology companies. Of this energy technology investments including smart-grid and clean energy programs will generate $77.6 billion in sales. As a result IDC predicts that the U.S. technology industry will expand 0.1 percent this year. The largest part of the energy spending is $66 billion for renewable energy such as wind and solar. $8.6 billion will be spent on smart-grid technology, smart meters for consumers and smarter transmission and distribution grids. $3 billion will be spent on conservation technologies such as programmable thermostats and energy-management systems for commercial buildings.
The Gridwise Alliance believes that “the total flowing to Smart Grid-related project will easily be twice the amount projected by IDC.”
It’s interesting that the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) has gone on record that it believes that the best use of the smart-grid spending is on smarter transmission and distribution networks, as opposed to smart meters.
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