Florida is getting $200 million in stimulus money to create a ``smart grid'' for utility customers that should result in lower electric usage, government officials announced Tuesday morning.
The money is going to Energy Smart Florida, a program involving Florida Power & Light that plans to install 2.6 million smart meters in homes and advanced monitoring systems in the grid substations, a federal official said. ``The impact of this will be felt throughout Florida.''
The money is coming from $3.4 billion that President Barack Obama announced Tuesday as part of a package to bring America's power system into the 21st century.
White House officials provided details of the initiative just before Obama's scheduled visit to FPL's DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center in Arcadia, Fla., the largest photovoltaic electricity facility in the country.
The Florida smart grid program was announced in April by Miami Mayor Manny Diaz and chief executives of four major national companies in a plan in which every home in Miami-Dade would get a ``smart meter'' to allow customers to monitor their usage of electricity and help them find ways to slash their electric bills.
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