Vice President Joe Biden Speaks of Green jobs infrastructure

The transmission super high way
VP Joe Biden on February 27th 2009, at the “Middle class task force meeting” commented on $19 billion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment act that is dedicated to renewable energy. $11 billion to build “the transmission super highway” with smart gird technology.
Biden spoke “We all know that the existing electrical grid today is inadequate, insufficient and outdated. For example, of all the wind power that we're talking about being able to create in the Midwest and North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and other plain states, (has) significant potential. But it cannot carry that energy right now to population centers that need the electricity most without a new transmission superhighway.”
Whether or not building a transmission superhighway is the best investment to make green jobs, it seems to be the mission of the current administration. There is no doubt the smart grid technology is an improvement over the current electrical grid but there is a reason why current utility companies haven’t already adopted this technology. Utility companies are typically risk adverse and haven’t invested in smart grid technology because it is a huge risk. There are numerous technologies that need to be designed and implemented properly before an effective network can be established. There will be failures before there are successes and should the American tax payer pay this burden so utility companies can benefit?
The current administration has not mentioned the self sufficient decentralized energy sector. This sector consists of localized energy production within say 15 miles of its use. Households that produce their own energy are part of this energy sector and are good examples why the Transmission Superhighway is not necessarily the best investment. There is no more efficient way to transport electricity than to transport over a shorter distance. For every 100 units of electricity that’s comes from a hydroelectric dam, 90 units of electricity gets lost during this transmission.
If the goals are to help create green jobs for middle class Americans, the Obama administration should look into supporting innovated small business that can provide more jobs and accomplish the same goals with more benefits than Smart Grid Technology. Benefits of decentralization include national security (because we are less reliant on any singular power plant), more efficient energy transfer, more jobs and self sustainability. Furthermore, no new technology needs to be developed to build energy producing homes and the proof is in all the existing households that do so. All we need is entrepreneurs to package the systems and banks to finance them when needed.
We can also help create high quality assets for financial institutions by financing domestic solar power systems. These systems would cost similar to a car loan, but unlike a car, solar systems produce cash savings on electric bills. Saving’s that can be used to directly pay the off a loan.

For green job listings visit Solpower jobs