Idaho Power Co. gets a chance at a big chunk of stimulus money but it doesn’t have it yet.

The utility is negotiating with Department of Energy officials the details of the “smart grid proposal” that goes beyond installing smart meters on customers’ homes. If it plays it cards right Idaho Power will get a great chance to catch up to the enlightened utilities like Xcel who are already operating pilot projects to demonstrate smart grid technology.

Idaho Power won a grant for $47 million to participate in the Obama administration’s effort to install a national “smart grid” Idaho Statesman reporter Colleen LaMay reported last week.

When I started talking with the company about smart grid technology more than a year ago its engineers acknowledged they were just beginning to think about what it meant to them. When it started installing smart meters at the request of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission it was hardly thinking about the more ambitious smart grid technology where other utilities had already investing millions.

It wasn’t too long ago that the company thought its future was going to be built on new coal plants and in the Bush years it was dismissing the effects of climate change on utility operations. It was only beginning to realize that energy efficiency needed to be a major part of its business.

That has changed dramatically over the last two years and the availability of federal funding to jump start its already rapidly growing effort to cash in on energy efficiency opportunities has given it a power surge.

The meters are only a part of the big picture. Behind them are sophisticated computer systems that allow the utility to offer electricity at variable rates depending on the availability and cost to provide it.

It means when power is abundant and cheap consumers can automatically benefit and take advantage of the surplus. When it is costly they can automatically cut back their use.

As battery and alternative energy technology improves, customers will be able to actually send power back on the grid in times of shortage when the value of the power is higher so the company doesn’t have to turn on expensive generation plants. The smart grid transmission technology and infrastructure will have to be in place for the company to integrate alternative energy sources like wind into its power system machine.

And it will have to have computer systems that instantly switch on and off thousands of appliances, machines, irrigation pumps and even street lights. The dream is that every electron is maximized and used efficiently.

In addition, Idaho Power hopes its smart grid investment – half of the $94 million it proposed – will reduce power interruption and increase the reliability of its grid. For people who have been forced to go without power during a warm spell this would be welcome news.

Earlier this year, Idaho Power’s stockholders urged the company to take a more aggressive position adjusting its operations for climate change. Its smart grid investment fits this new direction.

But it too early to call Idaho Power a green utility.