Smart grid investments rise, some utilities already leveraging growth

Of course, some utilities are already a step ahead of the game, such as National Grid in the Northeastern United States. According to Penn Energy, National Grid has finally launched the next step in its smart grid rollout, offering smart grid connectivity to over 15,000 customers in the Worchester, Mass., area.

"Our customers depend on us to reliably deliver their electricity, so National Grid is leveraging new technologies to build a smarter, more resilient electric network," said Marcy Reed, president of National Grid in Massachusetts, according to the news source. "By modernizing our system in Worcester, we hope to provide customers with improved response times and a reduction in the number of outages. We also will be better prepared for extreme weather events."

The optimization of utility delivery using a smart grid is critical for the continued growth of energy and migration to renewable, clean resources. The right investments into smart grid solutions and supporting meters, terminal servers and other hardware will be critical for utility providers going forward.

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