Environmental Issues > Energy Main Page > All Energy Documents

Read More

Issue Brief (PDF)

Smart grid technologies can be powerful enablers of important environmental benefits, but simply rolling out technologies, such as online interfaces that allow people to clearly see how much energy each appliance or system is using, will not ensure that these benefits are realized. As is explained in NRDC's The Promise of the Smart Grid: Goals, Policies, and Measurement Must Support Sustainability Benefits, careful smart grid program design and implementation is needed to leverage the environmental benefits of smart grid technologies, and direct capital toward solutions that benefit the environment. To accurately gauge the success of smart grid technologies, programs should be measured on the basis of direct benchmarks such as electricity consumption, grid flexibility, variable resource capacity value, and electric power carbon intensity.

last revised 10/3/2012