Smart Grid Stimulus: The Pause That Distresses

[Commentary] Remember how we all cheered at the start of the year when the feds announced that the Smart Grid would be part of the stimulus package? What a tremendous boost to the sector, we all said. Then reality set in. Far from accelerating 2009 Smart Grid spending, the stimulus bill slowed it down. Projects may have been delayed 9 to 12 months as utilities wait to hear whether the government will pay part of the price tag. Some are blaming stimulus-related delays for missing sales forecasts. And all of that leads to important questions: What's going to happen with utilities that do get money? Will it prime the pump and lead to more projects by those same utilities? Or will it be a one-time bubble, with those utilities waiting a few years before they tackle something big again? Will the utilities - and their PUCs - get addicted to the 50% government match and reject future initiatives as too expensive? What's going to happen with utilities that get their applications rejected? Will they regroup and push ahead with their projects on a smaller scale, since they'd already committed to a 50% share of the cost? Or will it be an excuse to throw up their hands, say oh well, we tried - and go back to business as usual? What about the effects on Smart Grid technology companies? Many of them have spent the last six months frantically assisting with stimulus applications. Clearly, they are hoping utilities will do the right thing and move forward with or without a check from Uncle Sam. But what about the vendors who don't win any awards? Will they continue to have the confidence of their customers and their investors? What effect will all this have on regulators?