If a tree falls on a power line, and no one's around to detect it, can it take the grid down? As we learned following the blackout of 2003, the answer to that question is yes.
The CEO of Quanta Services
Investment in new transmission did pick up significantly over the past decade, but we're also going to need a lot more maintenance spending if we want to improve the reliability of existing infrastructure. The Brattle Group pegs this cost at nearly $300 billion over the next two decades.
Regulated, investor-owned utilities like Duke Energy
Then, of course, there's always cash from Uncle Sam. Last year's $3.4 billion smart grid stimulus package, in addition to promoting the installation of two-way meters sold by the likes of Itron and Echelon
This transmission reliability angle may be less sexy than the smart-metering networks that Silver Spring is implementing with partners Cisco Systems