Two new studies have been released showing that federal investment in a "smart grid" could provide hundreds of thousands of new jobs for Americans. The first study, by the Gridwise Alliance trade group, concludes that with a $16 billion federal investment in smart grid incentives,  $64 billion in smart grid-related energy projects would be produced, yielding 280,000 new jobs,150,000 by the end of this year.

IBM also released a study on the issue, this one showing that a $50 billion investment in smart grid technologies spread out over the next 5 years could create 239,000 new jobs.

If we are ever going to get a handle on our energy usage, updating the grid using smart grid technologies is an absolute necessity.  Updating the grid and creating jobs for American workers sounds like a winning combination to me. If these studies impact the federal stimulus plan, it will also be interesting to see which companies reap the rewards.