Progress Energy said this morning it is applying for $200 million in federal stimulus funds to help pay for the company's development of Smart Grid technology in the Carolinas and in Florida.

The U.S. Department of Energy is planning to award $4.5 billion in Smart Grid grants as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. A Smart Grid is an electric transmission and distribution system that provides real-time data to the power company and customers on the customer's energy use and on the cost of power generation at any given instant.

"It will allow our customers ultimately to have more direct control of their energy use and their bill through pricing signals and pre-pay options," said CEO Bill Johnson. "The end result will be improved system efficiencies, energy conservation and a cleaner environment."

ABB, with its North American headquarters in Cary and 900 employees in the state, is shifting 40 engineering positions from Raleigh to its Texas office and giving workers here an opportunity to relocate.

ABB is consolidating its Network Management operations in Sugar Land, Tex., over the next several months, ABB spokesman Bill Rose confirmed today. The unit produces software and other services to manage substations and electrical power grids for power companies like Raleigh-based Progress Energy and others.

"There are two separate groups within that division that have been working 2,000 miles from each other," Rose said.