Discussions have sprouted concerning the implementation of a new energy efficient technology for the Champaign-Urbana area: The smart-grid.

When Mike Royse, president of One Main Development, attended a conference two years ago, the picture of a more “green” city began painting itself in his mind. Since then, associates at One Main, an urban development firm in downtown Champaign, have been talking to various individuals about creating a “smart-grid,” or micro-grid, for the area.

Serving as a more efficient way to distribute energy, Royse said the smart-grid would involve a main computer running the different electronic hubs that control devices in a building. He explained the main computer would be able to divert energy flow away from devices that were not being used to other places, hence making the electronic grid “smarter.”

“Think of all of the devices that we run in our lives that we don’t use all the time. You can have a whole community that ran itself more efficiently and save huge amounts of energy,” Royse said.

Although the project is being considered primarily for downtown Champaign, institutions like the University have taken interest to the smart-grid concept. Steve Sonka, Interim Vice Chancellor of public engagement, said the idea is appealing.

“The basic notion of using information technology to allow us to more efficiently use electrical power is clearly an attractive one,” Sonka said.

Sonka said the smart-grid sounds like it will benefit the University, but before testing is done, he cannot guarantee it will be a good investment.

While the initiative’s costs are not nailed down, Sonka said it may cost something like a couple million dollars to cover downtown Champaign. Although that number sounds like a large cost, Sonka said it is a relatively inexpensive amount for an energy-based project. He also said the smart-grid can be tested out in pieces, so in case it does not bode well, there will be less of a monetary loss than with usual energy projects.

Before anything begins, Royse said the community needs to become more educated with the smart-grid concept, through more things like lab-testing. Although the community is generally interested in energy-saving ideas, Sonka agrees that more things need to be considered.

“I mean the conversation is that it sounds like a good thing, but it needs to be implemented and tested,” Sonka said.

While there is currently no exact time frame for the project, Royse said testing could ideally start within the next several months.

Andrew Levy, planner for the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission, said saving energy is a benefit that serves everyone. Champaign County purchases its energy from two coal burning plants in Illinois, and so he said if the county were to conserve more energy, the need to purchase a bulk of power from other locations would begin to disappear. If enough power was saved, the county may even be able to someday generate its own power from alternative energy sources — which are not as viable with the current energy use.

“We really need to reduce our consumption because there’s no way we can generate our own electricity right now,” Levy said.

Levy added that since the resources we purchase are largely non-renewable, it adds security to the county’s power system if it could make its own energy.

“If we reduce our consumption needs to the point where we can generate it locally, that just makes us more secure,” he said.