It's snowstorms and thunder storms that can leave families without power for days...but for folks in Cuming County, not anymore. Thanks to smarter technology.

Elwood Moore, General Manager of the Cuming County Public Power District, says, "It will detect  the loss of any voltage and will send an alarm to us so we will know almost instantaneously or at least in real-time when we do have outages or problems on our lines."

And that's not all...

This smart technology will also save Cuming County consumers more money.

Moore adds, "When they get their bill 30 days from now, they kinda wonder why their bill's so high. Through the meters we can show them exactly when the high use started, what day and what hours."

...Making consumers more aware of their electrical usage habits and where they may need to control them.  That's all thanks to nearly $2,000,000 in President Obama's smart grid stimulus package that's aimed at modernizing and digitizing power systems.

Tisha Alfson, Technology Services Supervisor for CCPPD, says, "We are on the forefront of the new technology that is available to all electric companies in the nation, so to be on the front lines of that is very exciting. It's a great opportunity for our district and all the customers we serve."

And folks in Cuming County say the most exciting part of this grant is the change they will see in their pocketbook.

West Point, Neb. resident, Melburn Brockmann, says, "Well, sure, it's always good to see a savings there, sure, we would appreciate that."

Cuming County is only one of two counties in the state of Nebraska to receive smart technology funding.  Stanton County, serving the Norfolk area is the other. Folks in this region can also expect to see similar electrical perks.

Cuming County Public Power District expects to see all of these advancements coming to fruition sometime next year.