The "smart grid" is projected to be a nationwide system of automated meters and advanced sensors that integrates new alternative-energy sources with traditional power plants.
Once online, utilities will be able to adjust their rates to the immediate supply and demand for power, and customers will be able to choose to operate their appliances during the hours when consumption — and prices — are at their lowest.
Obama's economic stimulus package allocates $4.5 billion to modernize the nation's electricity system and put smart-grid technology on the fast track.
But creating a two-way line of communication between homes and the grid — however "smart" it may be — has its risks, experts say.
"With smart grid, anybody with an eBay account and $80 can go and buy a smart meter, reverse-engineer it and figure out how to attack the grid," said Josh Pennell, president and CEO of IOActive, a technology research firm in Seattle, who testified before the Department of Homeland Security last week.
On the other hand, he said, "If people are going to attack a power grid right now, it would need to be a very well-funded operation."
Pennell envisions low-level hackers trying to steal customer data for the purposes of fraud — or an international terrorist group infiltrating the grid and causing a massive power blackout. - FOX News Story
This is another one of those things that they just jump in with both feet and don't take the time to research and make sure it is right. That list grows everyday with this Administration and congress.
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