I think that anytime you're developing standards in a realm where the technology itself is rapidly evolving...

There is a great deal of funding--Federal funding out there now for NIST for implementation of the smart grid.

It's going to be a challenge for us to really educate consumers as to, How do you take advantage of this?

Congress saw this potential back in 2007 with passage of the Smart Grid provisions in Title XIII of the Energy Independence and Security Act.

Should disbursal of these stimulus funds be contingent on development of the standards and protocols?

If we don't have the standards and protocols in place, we spend it, but we don't have the systems.

We know that smart grid is not the buildout of miles and miles of high-voltage transmission lines; instead, it's--what we're really talking about is a potential transformation in how we use and deliver electricity.

How does DOE propose to undertake this responsibility, just in terms of the information that is out there?

The promises of a smarter grid are many. Consumers will be able to monitor in real time the amount, price, and even source of the electricity that they consume.

I do hope that we will be aggressive, and we will be aggressive before things are put in place.

The consumer will manage what we can measure.

We don't need to be withholding stimulus moneys, at this point in time, in making certain that those standards and protocols are in place first, and then the money comes.

Smart grid is the future and the program in Boulder demonstrates daily how much potential this technology has.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate you convening the hearing today.

There's been a little bit of a push or activity at the State and local levels to impose, whether it's Green Globes or LEED or other standards.

It would be great for markets and the private sector to move us toward a much more energy efficient world without government intervention but it is not doing so at present.

If you guys know that a refrigerator needs defrosting in Ketchikan and you can do something about it in Bentonville, Arkansas, we could use your help here.

It's got to be regionally specific, but I think this is a challenge and an opportunity and a need for national leadership.

But it is something that I appreciate the recognition that you've got to acknowledge the regional differences that we all face.

It's just a question of rolling it out and making it more widespread.

I know that the chairman and I are working on some legislation that would hopefully speak to exactly what you're talking about within the R and D area.

We are probably the best example of the highest inefficiency in lighting and in cooling and heating here in these buildings.

Do you have energy auditors that would go in and do that assessment?

Do we have that science and technology, that engineering?

I appreciate what you have just given us, Ms. LaFromboise and Mr. Moore, in terms of the need to tailor the programs so that we do have the cultural sensitivities, if you will, that we have programs that are not kind of a one size fits all.