Our nation’s electric power infrastructure that has served us so well for so long—also known as “the grid”—is rapidly running up against its limitations.
Our lights may be on, but systematically, the risks associated with relying on
an often overtaxed grid grow in size, scale and complexity every day. From national challenges like power system security to those global in nature such as climate change, our near-term agenda is formidable. Some might even say history-making.
Fortunately, we have a way forward. There is growing agreement among
federal and state policymakers, business leaders, and other key stakeholders around the idea that a smart grid is not only needed but well within reach.
Think of the smart grid as the Internet brought to our electric system.
Transforming our nation’s grid has been compared in significance with building
the interstate highway system or the development of the Internet. These efforts, rightly regarded as revolutionary, were preceded by countless evolutionary steps. Envisioned in the 1950s, the Eisenhower Highway System was not completed
until the early 1980s. Similarly, the Internet’s lineage can be directly traced to the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) of the U.S. Department of Defense in the 60s and 70s, long before its appearance as a society-changing technology in the 80s and 90s.
In much the same way, full implementation of the smart grid will evolve over time. However, countless positive steps are being taken today, organizations energized and achievements realized toward reaching that.
—from “The Smart Grid: An Introduction” by the U.S. Department of Energy
