Dive Summary:
- GTM Research conducted a survey of municipal utilities over the past two years and anticipates the next wave of smart grid expenditures will be led by municipal utilities, accounting for close to $7 billion through 2017.
- Of those utilities surveyed, 72 percent said that smart meters are a prerequisite to the utility’s vision of a smart grid.
- To accommodate the need for smart grid tech, municipal utilities, which usually have much smaller budgets than investor-owned utilities, will need to find lower cost technologies than what is currently available.
From the article:
Municipal utilities are minor players in the power generation industry, serving only about 13 percent of electric customers in the United States. Despite their small share of the market, municipal utilities are expected to be one of the largest drivers of smart grid investments over the next five years, according to a report released by GTM Research.
GTM Research, which conducted a survey of muni utilities for the past two years, anticipates the next wave of smart grid expenditures will be led by municipal utilities, accounting for close to $7 billion through 2017. Of those surveyed, 72 percent said smart meters are a prerequisite to the utility’s vision of a smarter grid, reported Greentech Media, the parent company of GTM Research. ...
