A smart Indiana power grid may be well on the way after a new settlement between the state’s largest electric supplier, the state utility consumer representative and consumer groups. Duke Energy Corporation will be rolling out smart meters in a new initiative, joining other cities in continued national smart grid efforts.

Solar incentive programs are growing, and Duke Energy’s project will test a distributed generation program which will install solar panels, wind turbines and solar thermal water heaters in specified homes. The pilot program will also be working to further plug-in hybrid car demand and grid integration.

Pending approval by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, the $445 million project could mean the installation of 800,000 smart meters and other automated functions over five to six years. Once authorized, Duke expects to begin within six months.

Duke Energy also reached an agreement with Cisco Systems to collaborate on smart grid technology and a communications infrastructure. Cisco will provide hardware and software to the power producer, which will implement technology that enables devices such as smart meters to automatically share data about grid performance.

Duke Energy is also implementing a smaller smart grid in North Carolina which received approval last month from the NC Utilities Commission for a pilot project in Charlotte. Located in the same city, Sensus, an advanced metering company, this week successfully demonstrated integration of their smart grid network and meters (FlexNet) with ABB’s software and controller.

Duke Energy’s Indiana project and many others will apply for Recovery Act funds towards improving grid flexibility. Governor Paterson of New York recently urged the Public Service Commission to move forward with smart grid project reviews and is working to approve matching funds—all before the July deadline.

Other utilities powering customers in states such as California, Colorado or Miami are also moving forward, such as Colorado Springs Utilities’ Automated Meter Reading (AMR) project. The project has been going for four years— aiming at over 530,000 installed smart meters (for electric, natural gas and water by 2010)— and has partnered with General Electric to install an Outage Management System (OMS) there.

In the south, rapidly approaching targeted smart meter deployment is Austin Energy in Texas—a state that has its own power grid, avoiding federal processes. The utility expects to complete smart meter deployment this year.

Even international companies are gaining footholds in the American smart electrical grid. In an effort headed by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, 20-30 million of Japanese government funds will be going towards initial grid development in a yet unknown New Mexico town.

GE is not only working in Colorado Springs and in Miami-- but will also in the United Kingdom, who are working towards total residential smart meter implementation by 2020. GE’s smart meters are being employed by the government-led Energy Demand Research Project, a study that is working to determine consumer responses to improved energy consumption information. Korea announced last week new smart grid plans and Amsterdam’s Smart City Program has begun to install energy-saving technology from IBM and Cisco.