The smart grid is an integrated approach to transform utilities to a future state. It requires the coordination of advanced technologies, business processes and people. The transition from the grid we know today to the grid of tomorrow will be as profound as all of the advances in power systems over the last century, but it will take place in a fraction of that time.
It will require a new level of cooperation between industry players, advocacy groups, the public and especially the regulatory bodies that have such immediate influence over the direction the process will take. In the end, though, a fully realized smart grid will benefit all stakeholders, especially the energy consumers and moreover society as a whole.
The smart grid will not be a revolution. It will be a gradual transformation of the systems that have served us for many years into a more intelligent, more effective and environmentally sensitive network to provide for our future needs.