Unifying the smart grid

With the unprecedented unification of power, communications, and information technology (IT) planned for the emerging smart grid, companies across typically siloed industries are adapting product roadmaps to dovetail with this tremendous federal undertaking. The IEEE P2030 work group is facilitating cooperation and visibility among power, communications, and IT silos to produce the long-term unification that is necessary to make the smart grid a success. The term “smart grid” gives important identity to a gathering, broad-based drive to improve the United States' electrical utility infrastructure. The nation's electrical grid has been getting “smarter” for years.