Reply #23: U.S. electrical grid gets $3.4 billion jolt of stimulus funding

[TomCADem]

Source: Washington Post

ARCADIA, FLA. -- President Obama stepped up his promotion of the job-creating potential of the $787 billion economic stimulus package Tuesday, announcing $3.4 billion in grants to improve the nation's electrical grid.

The federal money will pay for "smart meters," updated transformers and other devices to make the transmission of power more efficient and reliable. Obama called the grants the largest investment in energy-grid modernization in U.S. history.

"There's something big happening in America in terms of creating a clean-energy economy," he said.

Obama's vision for changing energy habits and reducing U.S. dependence on fossil fuels, especially foreign oil, relies on establishing a national "smart grid": an array of switches, sensors and computer chips that will be installed at various stages in the energy-delivery process.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/27/AR2009102703559.html?hpid=topnews

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Not surprisingly, Republicans are attacking this announcement as more government spending. I wonder how do coal and oil companies view this announcement.