The New York State Smart Grid Consortium, a not-for-profit public-private partnership that promotes broad statewide implementation of the smart grid, contracted with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to engage the New York-based electric utilities and the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) to determine the following:

• key technologies and capabilities needed for the foundation of a comprehensive grid modernization effort;
• high priority R&D gaps that need to be filled to enhance the ability of New York State to more effectively and reliably achieve grid modernization at reasonable cost and in timely fashion;
• key challenges and opportunities that impact New York State grid modernization;
• activities already underway in New York State to support grid modernization.

The recently issued white paper covers a lot of technical information that those outside of New York will find helpful and even provided a bit of history for trivia buffs: Did you know that Thomas Edison first provided electric lighting to a few dozen customers in lower Manhattan in 1882?[1] And what started as the first generator and several miles of wiring has grown into an interconnected electricity grid that covers the entire continent?

The electric grid that began in New York is essential to economic growth everywhere. In the early days of the Internet, I remember it being referred to as the information superhighway. You need energy to power the Internet. It is hard to imagine life without either. Understanding the importance of energy, New York’s Governor Cuomo launched the Energy Highway Initiative in 2012 with a goal of providing more reliable, lower cost power for New York’s homes and businesses, protecting and creating jobs, spurring new investment in New York State, generating economic growth and safeguarding the environment.

[1] Powering New York State’s Future Electricity Delivery System: Grid Modernization, page 2, January 2013