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In general, UtiliPoint believes that the "Smarter Grid "refers to an electricity transmission and distribution system that incorporates elements of traditional and cutting-edge power engineering, sophisticated sensing and monitoring technology, information technology, and communications to provide better grid performance and to support other utility business processes especially service delivery and customer service. In general, UtiliPoint believes that a Smarter Grid should not be defined by what technologies it incorporates, but rather by what it can and do for utilities and their customers.

The typical attributes of an advanced grid include the following:

• "Self -healing" sophisticated communication, grid monitoring and control that will help anticipate and respond to system problems in order to avoid or mitigate power outages and power quality problems.
• Integrated—Grid communications and controls will be seamless across the transmission and distribution network as well as across Wide Area Networks, Local Area Networks, and Home or Premise Networks.
• Distributed generation pervasive with fast engineering configurability, with net metering being "automatic."
• Secure from physical and electronic threats.

More specifically, within power delivery improvements and benefits general include an improvement in O&M cost profiles, reductions in the capital cost of assets and a reduction in T&D losses. Other key benefits include increased power flow, better prediction and activation of demand response load, enhanced security, increased power quality, increased ability to drive power plant emissions reduction, environmental impact analysis surety. and the creation of a safer work environment. On the customer side of the equation a moderation to increase of costs, improved power factors, better reliability, enhancement to security, greater comfort and convenience, and higher quality interaction and result with customer service.

Thus far, in the North American market, the technologically enabled "intelligent" grid is deployed to provide utilities with a greater ability to detect and automatically repair potential problems before they occur. As utilities have installed new technologies such as improved SCADA, GIS, OMW and AMR utilities have found that they have also made the grid less susceptible to terrorists, technological failures, or natural disasters. From a demand side, operations perspective utilities are realizing the benefits of increased control including the financial and customer benefits of load control, time of use pricing and enhanced security as well as faster service response times, most notably around outages.

Environmental control and proactive environmental stewardship is also beginning to emerge as one of the larger drivers in "intelligent" grid decision making. Precipitated by international tensions and the dramatic rise in fuel and energy costs the mantra for most utilities isn't just "green something" it is quickly becoming "green everything." Smarter Grid concepts play well into rational environmental from a number of dimensions, better planning means wiser investments in generation, transmission development, and the concomitant lessening of the environmental impact of both. Additionally, operating the grid better around means better overall efficiency of operations that make everyone's energy and effort dollar more productive.

As UtiliPoint has spoken with utilities and vendors around North America and globally, we have found that most people are quite the expert on many of the issues and business concepts that relate to "Smarter Grids." The challenge for most is an ability to link the benefits of technology investment to strategic utility initiatives and business process change.

Getting the Smarter Grid to work is partially a question of effectively using information technology to link data to operations turning it into information. Thus, taking advantage of the link between information networks and business processes and information technology and aligning and reengineering business processes. This, however, is easier said than done—as operating an intelligent grid is more than just about installing the technology and setting ever more ambitious operational improvement goals—it also requires understanding about how to use data and turn it into information to reach those goals.

Utilities are able to access more and more data than ever before about the state of the distribution system, but they don't really understand that data as of yet. This is primarily because there is a lot going on at any given time on a utility distribution network such as people turning electrical equipment on and off, temperatures changing, legitimate and not-so-legitimate work on the system, new constructions, outages, disturbances from neighboring distribution systems filtering in, large flows of power across distribution systems, etc. Until power engineers within a utility are truly able to understand what the data coming from the "Smarter Grid" means, they won't be able to program remotely located devices to respond as automatically as one might presume. UtiliPoint's experience in working on, and with utilities tells us that automation will occur slowly as utility employees learn what's normal, and importantly, how to characterize what isn't normal, and finally, how problems might best be addressed.

The link between energy control environments with business process environments is inexorable, but in combination with today's "smart" devices and advanced software and analytics technologies this link is becoming increasingly vital for both utility fiscal and operational success. Linking a utility company's operations with their business more effectively is becoming the name of the game for utilities across the globe, and learning how to do so effectively in areas such as transmission improvement and demand response will be a hallmark of innovative and successful utilities for years to come.