Southwest Transmission Cooperative, Inc., located in Benson, Arizona, has been awarded $32.2 million in funding to develop a smarter energy grid. The U.S. Department of Energy selected Southwest Transmission as one of 100 companies to receive federal stimulus funds as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The stimulus funds will be used to upgrade and automate the transmission, distribution and customer service systems, including smart meters for more than 44,150 customers and the installation of communication and digital infrastructure to support the two-way flow of information between the utility and its customers. The efforts began in 2010.
