Madison Gas and Electric (Wisconsin) is receiving a $5.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. MGE will use the grant to install technologies to boost efficiency, enhance service and improve reliability for customers.

The stimulus grant will help fund the following projects, which will begin next month:

Advanced metering infrastructure

MGE will install meters capable of two-way communication for all large commercial and industrial customers. The equipment monitors and analyzes customers' energy consumption patterns on an hourly, daily and seasonal basis. The information will be used to educate customers about their energy use and how they can conserve energy and lower emissions. The meters also will be used for outage notification and tracking power quality.

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles support

MGE will also install a network of up to 18 public and 25 residential charging stations for electric and electric hybrid vehicles in the Madison area. MGE will study the impacts of vehicle charging on the electric power grid and on home energy use and demand.

Distribution management

MGE will also install new distribution/management capabilities. During an outage, MGE system operators will be able to quickly identify the best options for restoring and rerouting power to reduce outage times.