DOE's 2013 budget includes electric distribution funding

President Barack Obama on Feb. 13 released his proposed budget for fiscal year 2013 (FY 13). The budget includes $27.2 billion for Department of Energy (DOE) projects.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the budget underscores the president's commitment to an "all-of-the-above" energy strategy. The budget request, Chu said, also represents tough choices aimed at focusing taxpayer resources on areas that will yield the greatest benefits.

Obama in recent months has voiced his support of the nation's energy delivery business, including in his June report "Policy Framework for the 21st Century Grid: Enabling Our Secure Energy Future."

"A smarter, modernized and expanded grid will be pivotal to the United States' world leadership in a clean energy future…" the report states. "A 21st century clean energy economy demands a 21st century grid."

And during January's State of the Union address, the president said, "Building this new energy future should be just one part of a broader agenda to repair America's infrastructure… We've got … a power grid that wastes too much energy."

This DOE table shows the budget request breakdown for research and development related to electricity transmission and distribution and how it compares to previous years' budgets.

The president said he asked for less money to support work on sodium-ion batteries for grid-scale energy storage because the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) project is on track to show commercial viability.

In addition to the research budget for energy delivery technologies, the FY 13 proposal shows much support for energy-savings technologies and strategies. The budget request includes $310 million to improve commercial and residential building efficiency, supporting the president's Better Buildings Initiative aimed at driving private sector investment in commercial building efficiency.

This brief overview represents only a small portion of the more than $27 billion requested by the DOE, but I thought you might like to see how some of the funding, if approved, will be used to help move along smart grid.