The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), a nonprofit organization creating transformational solutions to environmental problems, released a framework to evaluate the effectiveness of the plans of California public utilities to upgrade the state's electricity network into a digital smart grid.

The EDF framework will look at how effective the plans will be at delivering environmental and consumer benefits.

“Since these public utilities are investing millions of their ratepayers' dollars in the smart grid and need to get so many things right, EDF developed this framework to help California's smart grid deliver on its promises. It also identifies concrete steps these utilities can take to reach those goals,” said Miriam Horn, director of EDF's smart grid initiative, in a statement.

In June 2010, the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) had approved a roadmap based on the provisions of state law SB 17. As per the approval, utility smart grid investments will assist California to meet its climate change, demand-side management and renewable energy goals.

EDF already played an important role in shaping the CPUC guidelines. As per the CPUC norms, the state's three investor-owned utilities (IOUs) are required to use in designing and deploying their smart grids. 

These three utilities – San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E (News - Alert)) and Southern California Edison (SCE) – have more than 20 million customers and are the largest utilities in California.

EDF is also advising PG&E and will use the framework to score all three utilities' plans with equal rigor, so that the best elements are adopted and any weaknesses or gaps are remedied, officials said.

Recently, in its new report titled U.S. Smart Grid Market Forecast: 2010–2015, GTM Research revealed that the US smart grid market will grow more than 70 percent, from $5.6 billion in 2010 to $9.6 billion by 2015. The emerging industry faces a number of long-term obstacles while smart grid development is scaling in the near term.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.