Apr 23 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Larry Rulison Albany Times Union, N.Y.

National Grid is keeping secret large portions of its $240 million plan to test "smart grid" technologies in Saratoga County and the Syracuse area.

The company, the largest utility in the Capital Region, unveiled its smart-grid proposal on Friday, the same day it made a large filing with the state Public Service Commission seeking approval.

"Smart grid" is a concept under which new technologies are used to enable customers and the utility to better mange electric and natural gas usage, saving money and conserving energy.

The biggest breakthrough for homeowners is so-called smart meters that provide real-time electricity prices and usage data that can help them decide when it's cheapest to use appliances. National Grid would install the smart meters in homes in the target areas.

Testing of renewable energy sources would also be done under the pilot program.

National Grid is hoping to get half the money needed for the project from the federal stimulus package, which has set aside $4.5 billion for smart-grid initiatives.

The company also wants customers to pay for at least a portion of the project, although the utility has yet to spell out how that would work. The PSC would have to approve the use of ratepayer money.

National Grid has already submitted hundreds of pages of documents on the project to the PSC, although whole sections of the plan, including one of the three volumes that were produced, have been redacted by the company and are unavailable to the public.

In a letter to the PSC, Catherine Nesser, National Grid's assistant general counsel, said the redactions were done to "protect confidential information for which trade-secret protection is concurrently being sought."

In Volume 2 of the filing, an entire section about "green" technologies, such as solar and wind power, has been blacked out. Nesser writes that Volume 3, which is unavailable, contains confidential materials that accompany the trade-secret request.

National Grid spokesman Patrick Stella said Wednesday the protections are also being sought to protect the security of the company's transmission and distribution infrastructure.

Redaction of sensitive company information is allowed by the PSC, which makes virtually all of its documents and correspondence readily available to the public.

"At this point, it's deemed confidential," PSC spokesman James Denn said Wednesday.

The PSC sent letters to utilities in the state on April 2 asking them to devise smart-grid projects eligible for federal stimulus funding. The end of the letter notes that requests for trade-secret treatment must be made through the department's record access officer.

The Times Union has filed a request under the state's Freedom of Information Law to view unredacted versions of National Grid's smart-grid filings. By law, the PSC has five business days to respond.

Larry Rulison can be reached at 454-5504 or by e-mail at lrulison@timesunion.com.

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