The Battelle Memorial Institute will receive more than $88 million in federal funds to develop a Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project -- aiming to set the stage for an intelligent system of power distribution and metering in the region. U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell announced the news in Seattle today.

It's one of 32 demonstration projects around the country that will receive a total of $620 million in federal funds. The U.S. Department of Energy announced the funding this morning in Ohio. They're part of the broader American Recovery and Reinvestment Act federal economic stimulus program.

The regional project will be overseen by the Battelle Memorial Institute's Pacific Northwest Division. The official project description: "Spanning five states and affecting more than 60,000 consumers, demonstrate and validate new smart grid technologies and inform business cases; provide two-way communication between distributed generation, storage, and demand assets and the existing grid infrastructure; quantify smart grid costs and benefits; and advance interoperability standards and cyber security approaches."

“The nation’s electricity grid is starting to show its age and is straining to meet an ever-increasing demand, but by infusing intelligence into the grid we can make it more reliable, efficient, and save consumers money,” Cantwell said in a news release. “This funding validates our region's leadership in this promising growth area of clean energy and Washington state will be at the forefront of empowering homeowners and businesses to reduce electricity costs and create high-paying, long-term jobs.”

As reported by the Puget Sound Business Journal, the University of Washington and Seattle City Light will also receive funds to develop a $9.6 million "smart micro grid project" on the UW campus.

Update: A couple additional details after speaking with Cantwell's office: The project is expected to be centered at the Pacific Northwest National Lab in Richland, Wash., which Battelle operates. It will employ 1,500 people at its peak, and the federal funding will be matched by private funds, bringing the total project size to about $178 million.