Saturday, September 18, 2010

Nevada “Smart Grid” Project is Dumb Economics

Via Doug Ross @ Journal yesterday, an audit of federal stimulus spending found that $111 million in Stimulus spending “saved or created” 55 jobs at the bargain basement cost of a mere $2,018,000 each.

Yesterday, I treated you to a project-by-project look at money spent vs. jobs created, and one of the biggest boondoggles was the so-called Nevada “Smart Grid” project.  Please try not to gag as you read how the regime touts its “accomplishment:”


84. Enabling Customers to Manage their Energy Use – Las Vegas, Nevada – $137.9 million

The Department of Energy awarded a Smart Grid Investment Grant to NV Energy for a comprehensive smart grid project that will integrate multiple smart grid technologies, including 1.3 million smart meters, dynamic pricing, customer communications and in‐home networks, grid monitoring, distribution automation, distributed renewables, and electric vehicles. This will help NV Energy manage its electric system more efficiently and enable customers to more actively manage their energy use.

Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, NV Energy serves 2.4 million Nevadans ‐‐ as well as a state tourist population of approximately 40 million annually. Additionally, the company serves more than 46,000 electric customers in the Lake Tahoe‐area of California. 15  Nevadans have been employed by this grant and NV Energy estimates that the project will  create 400‐500 temporary and 45 permanent jobs.


  • Did the project create 400 to 500 temporary jobs?  If it did, it cost between $278,000 and $347,500 each, and those jobs are now gone.
  • Did the project create 15 new hires?  Do we really want to do the math on that one?  Of course we do: $$9,266,666.67 each.
  • Did the project result in 45 long-term, permanent positions?  If so, it cost $3.09 million each.

I don’t care how you want to slice this one: It’s dumb economics.  The people who tout these kinds of boondoggles are either really bad at math, or they think you are really bad at math.

Democrats have to be called to account for this kind of wasteful spending.  It was money we didn’t have and money that will cost my children and grandchildren interest for decades to come.

1 comments :

Lisa G in NZ said...

I just read Nevada's unemployment figures are up again (?) to 14.4 % here:

http://www.lvrj.com/business/nevada-s-unemployment-rises-climbs-to-14-4-percent-103275189.html

This comment was awesome "this is great. I feel Reid supporting makes me smarter and more entitled! Now if all the stupids would just jump in line. Who would hate taxes? I mean how else are we going to pay for all the spending we have to do. We are the elite, republicans just wish they were like us, smart and right and great. Reid is the man, and me and renostarman are the smart ones here. Making the government not waste money, lower taxes, and smaller government is stupid. We need bigger government because it is the answer to everything. We can all just give up our liberties now because REID KNOWS WHAT YOUR FAMILY NEEDS. You need to all shut up."

HA! Go Angle!

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