President Obama announced $3.4 billion in stimulus subsidies for smarter electricity generation and distribution in a new Recovery Act program. Slated to bring the total number of smart meters to 40 million, or more than 30 percent of U.S. households, the new program will consist of 100 grants in 49 states. Speaking at DeSoto Next-Generation Solar Energy Center (Arcadia, Fla.), Obama unveiled the $3.4 billion in stimulus subsidies, which will balloon to $8.1 billion with required matching funds from utility companies.

Obama traveled to Florida, because using solar energy there exemplifies what is smart about smart grids. For instance, Florida is called the Sunshine State because of its average of 343 sunny days per year, and yet it generates most of its electricity by burning fossil fuels. The DeSoto Next-Generation Solar Energy Center, on the other hand, was designed by Florida Power & Light to be capable of supplying the entire city of Arcadia--population 7,151--with electricity from arrays of solar panels which were switched online yesterday.

"With the flip of a switch," said Obama. "A large-scale solar power plant--the largest of its kind in the entire nation--will deliver electricity produced by the sun to the citizens of the Sunshine State. And I think it's about time. This plant will produce enough power to serve the entire city of Arcadia."

Obama went on to point out that its construction added 400 jobs in to the area, and will eliminate 575,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade, which he said was the equivalent of removing more than 45,000 cars from the road each year.

"Think about that, 45,000 cars removed from the road each year for the life of the project," said Obama. "And yet, to realize the full potential of this plant and others like it, we've got to do more than just add extra solar megawatts to our electrical grid. That's because this grid, which is made up of everything from power lines to generators to the meters in your home, still runs on century-old technology. It wastes too much energy, it costs us too much money, and it's too susceptible to outages and blackouts."

The variety of smart-grid technologies to be installed by the program included 18 million more smart meters, 200,000 advanced transformers, 170,000 smart thermostats, 700 automated substations, and upgrades to 850 transmission-line centers.

The smart meters will provide the utility companies with real-time reporting on usage and outages, enabling them to more accurately balance the grid, resulting in fewer and shorter outages. The meters will also show consumers how to save money by shifting to night, when the rates are lower, tasks like recharging a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles will be manufactured in a plant previously shuttered by General Motors by Fisker Automotive where Vice President Biden separately spoke in Wilmington, Del.