It’s official: the US government will send out $3.4 billion in grant allotment to improve and extend the electrical “smart” grid. More than a 100 companies from 49 states will be allotted from $400k to $200 million for improvements and extending the smart grid meters.

This money translates into about 10 milion meters of smart grid, 700 automated substations and 200k smart transformers. Why is this important ? Simply: extending the smart grid reduces the bills, it’s more environment-friendly and it’s more reliable than the current grid (the current electrical grid is regarded as “outdated” by Carol Browner, a top adviser on energy issues for President Barrack Obama).

In addition, private funding raises the total investment to an impressive $8.1 billion.

The government’s money will reach the electrical companies sometime in the next two months and the projects funded with this money will be finalized in less than 26 months.