The view from the Sky Terrace at Washington D.C.’s W Hotel is not to be missed. With the sun retiring behind the White House on one side and jets from National Airport gently rising between the Jefferson Memorial and Washington Monument on the other side, there couldn’t have been a better place to reflect on the smart grid briefing I just gave with my colleagues to Barack Obama’s Interagency Subcommittee for Smart Grid Issues.

The first headline: the Office of People’s Counsel, the Consumer Utility Board, IBEW, the Public Service Commission, and Pepco, the District’s electric utility, stood together touting the happy response of consumers in the PowerCentsDC Program, a Smart Grid pilot run by eMeter and just ended. These groups united to show their support and enthusiasm for Pepco’s rollout of smart meters throughout the District. Recently approved by the PSC, within 18 months – before California, before Texas – Washington D.C. will be a fully automated, and truly, Smart Grid City.

The program results reinforced the findings of numerous other pilots, yet with new and compelling data: over 90% of the participants saved money, 89% would recommend it to their friends, peak demand reductions were as high as 51%, demand reductions increased signficantly at higher temperatures, and every one of the low income participants benefitted. This was the second headline: low income consumers reduced peak demand (by an astonishing 30% for all-electric low income customers), saved money (100% of them saved, being on Peak Time Rebate prices), and participated at rates proportionately higher than the rest of the population.

What’s next? The Subcommittee asked me to add a section to the program’s final report to describe best practices and lessons learned, to be shared with state commissions throughout the U.S. to promote similar successes. We’ll have that back to them in a few weeks.

As for the Sky Terrace? Don’t miss it.