WebProNews

Over the past couple of years, Google's made several moves that implied a sort of fascination with electricity.  There was the RE<C ("renewable energy cheaper than coal") initiative, its fleet of plug-in hybrids, and the development of the PowerMeter, for example.  Now, Google's checked in with an update about the smart grid.

Don't scan this article for completion dates, price tags, or anything of that sort (and don't bother clicking on the link and doing the same on the other side, either).  Google didn't provide information along those lines.

What did happen is that Vint Cerf, Google's chief Internet evangelist, wrote a post on the Public Policy Blog.  In it, he described the smart grid concept as which he described as "defining smarter ways to deliver and use energy" and "defining new ways to generate and exchange energy information."

He also mentioned Google's work with the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), and pushed for open standards with respect to the electric grid.

The fact that Google got Cerf to tackle this subject is a sign that Google takes the smart grid very seriously.  Cerf is, after all, considered one of the fathers of the Internet, and he's won enough awards to put most living scientists to shame.

Don't worry if some time passes without Google fawning over algae-powered airplanes or other stuff of that nature, then.  The search giant's still looking into it.