Power line communications for automation networks and smart grid [Guest Editorial]

Power line communications (PLC) reuses power lines for communication purposes. It is an "old" technology whose commercial use for voice communication and control goes back to the beginning of the last century (see the excellent History Column article by Mischa Schwartz [1]). Since then, PLC applications have always been with us. But PLC technology has only gained attention in the broader public with the advent of broadband PLC for Internet access and inhome multimedia applications in the late 1990s.