$25. 002009 ieee 52 ieee

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Grid of the 

Future

by Ali Ipakchi and Farrokh Albuyeh

1540-7977/09/$25.00©2009 IEEE

52 

IEEE

 

power & energy magazine

 

march/april 2009

Digital Object Identifi er 10.1109/MPE.2008.931384

Are We Ready to Transition 

to a Smart Grid?

M

MANY BELIEVE THE ELECTRIC POWER SYSTEM IS UNDERGOING A PROFOUND 

change driven by a number of needs. There’s the need for environmental compliance and en-

ergy conservation. We need better grid reliability while dealing with an aging infrastructure. 

And we need improved operational effi ciencies and customer service. The changes that are 

happening are particularly signifi cant for the electricity distribution grid, where “blind” and 

manual operations, along with the electromechanical components, will need to be transformed 

into a “smart grid.” This transformation will be necessary to meet environmental targets, to 

accommodate a greater emphasis on demand response (DR), and to support plug-in hybrid 

electric vehicles (PHEVs) as well as distributed generation and storage capabilities. 

It is safe to say that these needs and changes present the power industry with the biggest 

challenge it has ever faced. On one hand, the transition to a smart grid has to be evolutionary 

to keep the lights on; on the other hand, the issues surrounding the smart grid are signifi cant 

enough to demand major changes in power systems operating philosophy.