http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/2605172,6_1_NA17_SMART_S1-100817.article
August 17, 2010
By JENETTE STURGES jsturges@stmedianetwork.com
If you're still unsure of how you feel about the Smart Grid, the city is hoping to hire someone who will win you over.
The Naperville City Council will consider hiring on a Smart Grid public relations consultant at its meeting Tuesday night, for about $460,000.
Under the three-year contract, to be awarded to Jasculca-Terman, the consultant would provide a communication plan, a customer privacy and advocacy handbook, logos and branding for the Naperville Smart Grid Initiative, and would generally handle public relations for the project.
The Smart Grid is essentially an overlay on the city's existing electrical grid. Its main feature is a two-way communication network that allows different parts of the grid, whether a house, substation, or the city's main electrical facility, to tell each other where power is going and where it's needed. The information would reduce electricity lost over power lines and allow for real-time energy pricing.
But that two-way communication, which would collect real-time data on how much electricity is being used in individual homes, along with the $22 million price tag on the upgrade, has drawn criticism from some Naperville residents.
Half the cost of the infrastructure upgrade is being reimbursed through a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. That 50 percent reimbursement would include the contract for a public relations consultant.
The Naperville City Council will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers of the Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle St.