Standing in front of solar panels at a Florida sun farm, President Obama announced $3.4 billion in smart grid funding to be spent in 49 states.  Clean energy enthusiasts and clean tech investors applauded the investment.  And it was a big story in the national green energy press.

Of course the logical question in Utah was: “How much of the funding will Utah get?”

Unfortunately, there’s no clear answer to that question. Only time will tell how much direct funding hits Utah.  But here’s what we know now.

The Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) will receive $53.9 million of the smart grid funding for its Western Interconnection Synchrophasor Program (WISP). The funding will be used across the west in 14 states, including Utah.  The federal funding from the Smart Grid Investment Grant initiative will be leveraged 1:1 with matching dollars from utility companies, for a total project estimated at $107.8 million. Details about the Smart Grid Investment Grant program can be found on WECC’s website.

Unbeknownst to many Utahns, the WECC is based right here in Salt Lake City (in Research Park), employing more than 50 Utahns to help ensure the reliability of the west’s power grid.

According to Rachel Sherrard, Director of Communications for WECC, the funding will be primarily used to install new or upgrade existing synchophasor units, which provide real-time information to grid operators about the status of the bulk electric system.  In all, more than 250 phasor measurement units (PMUs) will be upgraded or purchased and installed by electrical utilities, including PacifiCorp, the parent company of Utah’s Rocky Mountain Power.

PacifiCorp, as a participating member with several other western utilities, is contributing $800,000 in funding and resources  to the PMU installation project. (Not all that money will be spent in Utah, as PacifiCorp serves several states.) A preliminary map of PMU locations shows seven potential synchrophasors being installed within Utah, with two near First Wind’s major new wind farm near Milford.

Fortunately, even those PMUs installed outside the state still benefit Utah.  The synchrophasors provide increased “visibility” of the grid, meaning operators can manage the entire system more effectively and efficiently, saving energy and preventing outages and downtime.

The smart grid investment will have particular value to alternative energy development.  Because wind and solar generation output varies with the weather (and time of day), those operating the grid must now manage a more complicated system.  However, if operators can “see” what is happening at the wind farm, they can make adjustments to accommodate increased generation.  Eventually, operators may even use this visibility to decrease fossil fuel generation at fossil fuel burning plants when the wind is blowing hard or the sun is shining brightly.

An additional benefit for wind power development will be an increase in transmission capacity. Vickie VanZandt, the WISP Project Manager, estimates that up to 100 megawatts of additional transmission capacity will be added to transport electricity from states like Utah to California and the west coast.  The project accomplishes this increase in the “size of the pipe” by more efficiently using existing infrastructure.  For alternative energy transmission to achieve the real scale needed to combat climate change, significantly more transmission lines will need to be constructed.

A study commissioned by WECC estimated economic benefit of the smart grid investments, over 40 years, to be more than $630 million for reduced capacity cost for intermittent energy generation and increased usage of alternative generation technologies.

Clean energy supporters would be well served to learn more about WECC, which is responsible for coordinating the reliability aspects of the energy grid for most of the western US, part of Canada, and a small portion of Mexico.  This public-private partnership operates two reliability monitoring centers, one in Vancouver, Washington and the other in Loveland, Colorado.  These two centers back each other up in the case of a major disruption and provide visibility to the largest geographic area of any electricity coordinating entity. (There are eight, including WECC, across the US.)

With the grid being one of the largest limiting factors in alternative energy development, WECC will play a large role in the coming years as more and more dispersed generation sites connect to our distribution system.

While Utah still makes national headlines for elected officials who deny the science of global warming, BlueSource has longed moved past the debate, and found it quite profitable to do so. The company is a major player in the voluntary carbon trading market and calls itself “North America’s Leading Climate Change Portfolio.” Founded in 2001 by Bill Townsend and Greg Spencer, BlueSource is headquartered in Holladay, although it has eight offices from San Francisco to New York, including two in Canada.

So what does BlueSource do?  Simply put, the company develops or supports projects that keep greenhouse gasses out of the atmosphere and then monetizes the carbon credits generated by selling them on the voluntary market to companies who want to offset their own carbon footprint.  BlueSource has projects under development in all of the lower 48 states and Canada.  Projects range from capturing carbon at the vent-stacks of industrial facilities to methane management projects at landfills, wastewater treatment plants, and large dairy farms.

BlueSource has yet to finalize a major project in Utah, having focused to date on larger industrial areas. However, Kevin Townsend (son of founder Bill) promises more than one project is under development.  The company is actively pursuing several large-scale projects in Utah and hopes to make announcements soon.

The seed for BlueSource started with a company called PetroSource, which focused on capturing CO2 to be used for enhanced oil recovery.  This technique for improving oil production has been in use for decades.  BlueSource continues an emphasis on enhanced oil recovery.  But instead of using natural CO2 from underground, BlueSource pipes in CO2 captured from man-made sources. BlueSource’s expertise in this area adds to a major developing strength in Utah’s clean tech industry.  USTAR’s Dr. Brian McPherson, Headwaters,  and BlueSource are all helping to make Utah a leader in carbon capture and storage.

The future appears bright for this privately-held company. BlueSource recently partnered with Och-Ziff Capital Management Group, which will provide capital and financing up to $500 million to develop new CO2 pipeline infrastructure and carbon management projects.

So, what if Congress fails to pass meaningful legislation limiting carbon emissions or creating a cap-and-trade system?

BlueScource has been growing and thriving without government mandates by focusing on the voluntary market, which is quite strong.  According to an annual report by Ecosystem Marketplace, approximately 53% of global voluntary purchases of carbon offsets are made by buyers in Europe, despite mandates in place for carbon emissions.

“The voluntary market is driven by the country’s desire to take action, despite inaction from the government,” said Kevin Townsend, VP of Portfolio Development.

Let’s hope for action, but plan for inaction. And BlueSource will continue to lead the way, either way.

In fact, Perpetual Green promises its system can reduce a home’s energy use by more than 30%. Older, less efficient homes can realize even greater savings.  PG’s energy efficiency system is made up of several components, including “non sexy” elements, such as compact fluorescent light bulbs and weatherization.  But the system goes further, with proprietary power correction technology and power consumption monitoring.  The patented power correction equipment optimizes the power factor of electricity flowing into the home, making active appliances more efficient.  And, the power monitoring equipment allows users to see their consumption patterns and waste, suggesting simple changes that can have big impacts on energy use.

This early stage company, like many in the new green economy, is rushing to market.

PerpetualGreen Offices in South Jordan, Utah

In less than a year, the company has gone from an idea to the verge of marketing products to the public.  In fact, Gary Tanner, PG’s VP of Sales, reports that the company plans its first manufacturing run of its proprietary power correction equipment, this fall.

One might expect such a system to only be affordable by the most committed tree huggers. But perhaps the most innovative part of Perpetual Green’s approach is its “Green Equity” financing. This innovative payment mechanism allows home owners to tap the equity in their homes to pay for efficiency improvements.  When a resident signs up for the PG system, the resident signs over a small percentage of the home’s equity, upon the sale of the home.  With this approach, Perpetual Green hopes to tap into a huge emerging market: the millions of Americans who want to reduce carbon emissions, but can’t afford the large up-front costs associated with many current technologies.

Sound far reaching?  Hardly.  That’s just the beginning for this ambitious start-up.  Perpetual Green has its efficiency sights set on big commercial projects and the emerging market for carbon offset training.  Ivie and his business partner, Doug Stuart, have developed a sophisticated system for monitoring, quantifying, and monetizing energy efficiency credits.  These credits, the company believes, will be the currency of the coming green economy.

So, keep an eye out for this up and coming Utah start-up.  It just might become a perpetual player in Utah’s clean tech community.