New Mexico Economic Development Department Enters into Agreement with Smart Grid Advocate Galvin Electricity Initiative
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 16, 2010
CONTACT:
Michael Moxey
c: 505-660-1926
o: 505-827-2020
NEW MEXICO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT ENTERS INTO AGREEMENT WITH SMART GRID ADVOCATE GALVIN ELECTRICITY INITIATIVE
MOU to assist innovative state green grid initiative
SANTA FE — The New Mexico Economic Development Department has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Galvin Electricity Initiative to help optimize the development of the New Mexico Green Grid Initiative (NMGGI). The MOU covers specific activities, including assessments of technical progress, policy development and educational outreach.
“We are pleased to enter into this agreement with Galvin, and see it as another stepping stone in transitioning New Mexico to an efficient green grid,” stated Economic Development Department Cabinet Secretary Fred Mondragón. He added, “Our partnership in these efforts will spur entrepreneurial innovation, create green jobs, and attract clean business to New Mexico.”
The Galvin Electricity Initiative is a non-profit organization advocating for electricity grid modernization in the U.S. The MOU establishes an innovative public-private partnership that will assist in incorporating new and innovative smart grid technology by building cost-effective microgrid distribution systems throughout the state, which will achieve dramatic improvements in reliability, maximize clean energy resources, benefit consumers, and lower operations and maintenance costs.
“We are proud to lend our expertise and guidance to the New Mexico Green Grid Initiative and become a part of this statewide partnership,” said Galvin Electricity Initiative Executive Director Kurt Yeager, who signed the agreement. “Smart microgrids are the right approach for green-minded New Mexico since on-site generation and clean energy integration capabilities of this type of distribution system will improve the electricity system’s overall reliability and reduce New Mexicans’ electricity costs.”
The Galvin Electricity Initiative’s New Mexico work will be implemented by New Mexico-based Energy Control Inc. (ECI), a nationally recognized smart grid company led by Jack McGowan, Chairman Emeritus of the Department of Energy GridWise Architecture Council. “The combination of business and technical benefits from green microgrids can create Enterprise Zones for Electricity that will create jobs and stimulate new business opportunities,” said McGowan.
The MOU stipulates:
- Galvin will work with NMGGI members, the Economic Development Department and other interested parties and state agencies to make policy recommendations to assist New Mexico in driving a transition to a green grid in a timely and effective manner.
- Galvin will take a leading role in the development of educational outreach, including seminars and messaging, to detail the challenges and successes of the green grid.
- Galvin will establish a New Mexico office to provide monthly reports to the NMGGI and the Economic Development Department to track results and accomplishments of the green grid.
The agreement will last until June 30, 2012
More on the New Mexico Green Grid Initiative ( NMGGI): Beginning in August 2008, the NMGGI was established with the goal of making New Mexico the first state with a green grid, a statewide smart grid with at least half of the electricity being produced from clean and renewable energy sources.
The NMGGI is providing a technical roadmap and business plan for investment that lays out how a green grid can be implemented in New Mexico, and has been working with the nation of Japan, as well as electric utilities, communities, businesses, and other organizations to carry out a set of demonstration projects. These demonstration projects include at least five sites testing the viability of a microgrid, small local electrical grids that can be controlled by the consumer and a utility to provide for optimal performance.
More on the Galvin Electricity Initiative: The Galvin Electricity Initiative was launched by former Motorola CEO Robert W. Galvin to transform our electric power system into one that is reliable, efficient, secure and clean, and meets the needs of 21st century consumers. In 2010, the Initiative is accelerating its campaign to spark a migration toward a consumer-driven electric power system in select states. The campaign goal is to promote grid modernization through Perfect Power smart microgrids that place top priority on serving consumers and businesses with reliable, high-quality, clean power.
For more on Galvin, please go to www.galvinpower.org.
