Abstract
Today's electrical grid is considered one of the greatest engineering accomplishments of all time. It was recognized in 2003 by the National Academy of Engineering as the preeminent engineering achievement of the twentieth century. Currently, the utility industry is facing a number of challenges that are bringing about the need to make major changes to the grid. These challenges include the need for greater energy security arising from increasing demand for energy worldwide and decreasing supply of fossil fuels to meet the demand, worldwide concern about global climate change, aging infrastructure and inefficiency in the existing grid. Additionally, consumers want to play a role in their own energy management and conservation. To address these challenges, the utility industry is in the early phases of migrating toward a smart grid. The goal of the smart grid is to make the existing grid more efficient and less harmful to the environment, while continuing to provide safe, reliable, and affordable electricity to consumers. This paper discusses the current issues in regard to energy consumption, problems with the existing grid and the goals of the smart grid, information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, and communication technologies, standards, and protocols that are either already in use or are being considered for the smart grid , micro-grids, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and smart homes and the role they will play in the smart grid, existing smart grid deployments and pilot projects , the economic issues related to the smart grid and focuses on sensors for smart grid networks, and green networks.