The FCC could get a $6.4 billion boost in the next 10 years from auctioning more airwaves, estimates President Obama’s $3.8 trillion 2011 budget. In his fiscal 2011 budget proposal, Obama says the government could receive an estimated $1.6 billion from auctioned licensed spectrum through 2020.
The FCC plans to auction the D-block spectrum to commercial operators in the next year or so. That spectrum would be added to the 10-megahertz of spectrum public safety has already been allocated to create a 20-megahertz public/private network.
It would likely use LTE for public safety communications, although the FCC probably will not specify the technology in its broadband plan.
The proposal also seeks to give the FCC new authority to establish user fees on unauctioned spectrum that could generate another $4.8 billion. The fees would be phased in over time and determined by the agency’s rulemaking process. Group owners of radio and television currently don’t pay a dime for their spectrum.
President Obama’s $3.8 trillion 2011 budget (BlogRunner), includes $28.4 billion for the U.S. Department of Energy to jumpstart green technologies and build a requisite job force. Surprisingly, nuclear would get a big boost. Not so surprisingly, oil and gas companies would have to kiss some of their tax credits goodbye.
In the current budget request, about $108 million has been set aside for grants to wind, solar and geothermal projects, and another $40 billion has been secured for loan guarantees to the same.
Another $300 million would go to the DOE’s Advanced Research Project Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) initiative, which funds bold and experimental clean energy prospects. About $144 million would go to Smart Grid research and demonstrations.
Winners in the wireless Smart Grid architecture might include:
- Ambient Smart Grid which works with the Verizon Wireless network infrastructure and offers utilities virtual private networks.
- Sensus FlexNet whose customers include large Investor Owned Utilities, small municipalities, and rural electric cooperatives.
- Silver Spring Networks which is building new Smart Grid applications, with partners Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Foundation Capital, and other existing investors. Silver Spring Networks is in a race with Gridpoint to grow fast and go public within the next 18 months.
- Gridpoint with a java-based server technology providing a shared foundation for software applications, creating a common point for integration, asset provisioning and real-time management.
- Grid-Net uses WiMAX smart meters, licensed to GE Energy for use in GE’s advanced meter and modem product family bundled with Grid Net’s PolicyNet software.
A month ago the DOE handed out $3.4 billion in stimulus grants to utilities working toward a cleaner, more efficient electrical grid. The grants (below), which range from $400,000 to $200 million, will go to 100 companies, utilities, manufacturers, cities and other partners in 49 states — every state except Alaska. Here’s a full listing by state (pdf) and catagory (pdf). The Also-Ran’s may go forward, scaled back, or shelved. Smartgridnews.com tracks the buzz.
Related Smart Meter stories on Dailywireless include; Obama Announces $3.4B in Electric “Smart Grid” Grants, Smart Grid Gets Unwired, Smart Meters on The Stimulus Channel,
Obama Announces $3.4B in Electric “Smart Grid” Grants, WiMAX SmartGrid Coming to 700K Australians, Home Networking: A Universal Spec?, Google Power Meter, M2M: Big Deal, Wireless Power Standard Emerging, and Sprint Announces Smart Grid Ambitions, ABI: Stimulus Means Big Bucks for Wireless, The Smart Grid: Licensed or Unlicensed Spectrum, Cellular-enabled SCADA, Smart Grid: Dumb or What?, Smart Grid: It’s Alive!, Google: Smart Power R US, 900 Mhz Telemetry, Traffic Cameras and ITS and the Corpus Christi Cloud.
