President Obama yesterday unveiled $3.4 billion in government grants for equipment to improve the efficiency of the nation’s electrical transmission network.
The grants, ranging in size from $400,000 to $200 million, will be used to develop and install “smart grid’’ technology to make electricity transmission more reliable and aid the transmission of energy generated from sources like wind and solar power.
“The current system is outdated and dilapidated,’’ Carol Browner, the White House’s top energy adviser, said in a conference call with reporters late yesterday. The grants “will give us a transformational impact on how electricity is generated, delivered, and consumed,’’ she said.
Senators John F. Kerry and Paul Kirk announced this afternoon that six Massachusetts communities and companies will receive $36 million in grants.
“These investments will make our electricity delivery system more efficient, give us more control over power surges, and reduce the amount of energy we use,’’ Kerry said.
The money comes from the $787 billion economic stimulus legislation approved by Congress in February. Jared Bernstein, chief economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, said the grants will “save or create tens of thousands’’ of jobs.
Bernstein said Oct. 15 the stimulus legislation has created or saved about 1 million jobs since it was enacted. The nation’s unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent last month, and the president has said he expects it to exceed 10 percent.
Obama made the announcement in Arcadia, Fla., at one of the nation’s largest solar power generating facilities.
