U.S. Electric System Begins Long Transformation to a Smart Grid

National modernization effort faces regulatory and technical challenges.

A supervisor works in the grid control center at the Southern California Edison electric company in 2007.

This is the first in a series of articles about the transformation of the U.S. electric power system into a 21st-century smart grid.

By Cheryl Pellerin Staff Writer

Washington — Following the lead of some European and Pacific Rim nations, U.S. government technical and regulatory agencies, electric utilities, energy service providers and private companies are working to turn the nation’s century-old electric power grid into a 21st-century “smart grid.”