As Energy Secretary Steven Chu has noted, “America cannot build a 21st Century energy economy with a mid-20th Century electricity system.” Transforming the current grid into a dynamic, resilient, and adaptable Smart Grid will be one of the biggest technological challenges of our times. The rewards, however, may be dramatic, enabling consumers to better control their electricity use, integrating the next generation of plug-in electric vehicles, increasing efficiency, and better harnessing renewable energy. The Smart Grid will be able to revolutionize electricity generation, delivery, and use in this nation by combining the two-way flow of electricity with the two-way flow of information. It will leverage the benefits of modern computing capabilities to process information about electricity usage more dynamically and enable adjustments in electricity usage to make our use of electricity more efficient and reliable. Key to achieving these potential benefits is ensuring that the foundational technological needs of the Smart Grid are in place. Because the Smart Grid relies on the increased use of communications and information technology, sufficient access to communications facilities is critically important.
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