NEWS

US Agency Moves Toward Smart-grid Road Map

04/09/2009

The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded a US$1.3 million contract to the Electric Power Research Institute to help the agency determine the architecture and initial standards for an electric-power smart grid.

EPRI, a nonprofit research and development group, will help NIST create an interim road map for the smart grid, a nationwide network that will use information technology with the goal of helping U.S. utilities deliver electricity more efficiently and reliably. NIST and EPRI announced the contract Wednesday.

A $787 billion economic stimulus package passed by the U.S. Congress in February includes $4.5 billion for smart-grid projects across the U.S. President Barack Obama and other backers of a smart grid say an upgrade of the aging U.S. electricity system is needed in order to use energy more efficiently and to make use of alternative energy sources.