Federal funding for the development of the smart grid and installation of smart meters in the United States are just two aspects of the widespread investment in smart energy infrastructure by the public sector.

Most U.S. cities have launched projects to conserve energy and many municipalities are developing their own renewable energy resources. The city of Annapolis, Md. is undertaking an even more ambitious program to create a Renewable Energy Park that will amount to a quadruple play for smart energy innovation. I spoke to Doug Smith, chief administrative officer for Annapolis, to find out more about how this project will benefit the city and serve as a model for future energy initiatives.

Mary Cronin (News - Alert): Before we talk about the details of smart energy planning for Annapolis, could you describe your responsibilities as the Chief Administrative officer of the city?

Doug Smith (pictured left): As Chief Administrative officer, I'm responsible for of all the administrative aspects of the services provided by city government - managing the operating side of 700 plus city employees, including the implementation and budget for delivery of city services such as trash collection, paving of streets, the water system, parks and so on. My role is to make sure that the day-to-day city operations run smoothly -it's not a political position.

MC: How did Annapolis decide to embark on the development of an extensive Renewable Energy Park?

DS: The Energy Park is an ambitious project, and there are been multiple drivers and expected benefits that have gone into defining its scope. First of all, as the capital city of Maryland, we feel that it's important to take a leadership position in sustainable energy and environmental issues across the board. Because of its location, Annapolis also has a great wealth of residents with experience and expertise in environmental management as well as computer technology and development, providing widespread support for energy programs.

So Annapolis has a track record of being very environmentally conscious.

For example, being so close the Chesapeake Bay, we have been active in programs aimed at cleaning up the bay and reducing pollution and emissions. And we have been very active in encouraging innovation and partnering with the Maryland Department of Energy. At the state level, Maryland encourages the idea of using municipal solid waste dumps to generate sustainable power. Waste sites are a natural fit because they typically have open land that can accommodate large installations of solar or wind power generators with optimal positioning to improve output. So installing solar panels is relatively cost effective and straightforward. Where Annapolis has been more innovative is in putting together a more comprehensive plan for working with commercial vendors and creating a roadmap for co-investment and development.

MC: Can you describe some of the specifics of your partnering with commercial developers and your overall renewable energy roadmap?

DS: The first project component is to generate solar energy through an installation located at the municipal waste site. Our financial model is that a commercial developer will pay for the cost of this solar installation, with the developer making the required capital investment for construction and also operating the site for an agreed-upon period. In return, the city will contract to buy the power that is generated at a set price, and will use that power as an alternative source of energy for municipal buildings. This initial phase is underway and we hope to have construction started before the end of 2010.

The next step in the project will be to tackle a more complex challenge -- converting the wood waste that is currently going into the city's solid waste dump into energy and fuel. If you look at the data, every medium to large size municipality has to process a very large amount of wood and backyard organic products every year. We are planning to contract for the conversion of that type of waste into renewable energy. The key element in this stage is that conversion will use a high efficiency plasma gasification process that does not produce any CO2. The process will vaporize solid waste rather than burning it.

We are not doing anything untested in terms of the processing - simply using a waste product (in our case wood and yard waste) as the raw material to convert into a gas product that will in turn be converted into steam and other sources of energy to be used by the city. One of the most innovative aspects of the program is actually our model for partnering with commercial developers to turn what is currently a city cost center - the solid waste dump-into an affordable source of renewable energy. Among other approaches, we can help the developers to leverage energy tax credits to lower the overall project costs.

MC: What are the most important benefits of this type of program for Annapolis? How does it become a "quadruple play" for energy and revenue benefits?

DS: By putting a cluster of alternative energy producing options of the solid waste site we are turning it into a financial, environmental and even educational resource for the long term. City financial benefits include creating a fixed price for energy into the future. In addition, we will generate revenue from the project in the form of a leasing agreement with the developer in exchange for providing access to the land for the solar power site. Although solar power is still costly, this arrangement will give us a much more predictable cost of electricity over time. Even though we will still have to buy some traditional power, we can stabilize the cost per KW. Since Annapolis is going through the same cost cutting issues as other cities, this gives us long term control over energy costs.

As I mentioned the second phase of solid waste gasification to generate even more renewable energy will create new sources of revenue and reduce our consumption costs even more.

Power generated in this phase will be used by the city for the city needs in water pumping and heating of buildings. Our goal is to generate enough power for all of the city buildings and facilities. Any excess energy that is generated will be sold back to Baltimore Gas & Electric - creating another source of revenue.

Finally, by turning the Renewable Energy Park into a demonstration and educational center for energy processing and sustainability, we hope to attract even more people who are interested in renewable energy innovation and become a hub for technology development and commercialization of smart energy solutions. The Energy Park site includes historical city buildings and we'll be heating these directly with renewable power. Being so close to DC and Baltimore, we can become a major educational destination facility over time.