The Service Upgrade

Today's utility companies are being driven to upgrade their aging transmission and distribution networks in the face of escalating energy generation costs, serious environmental challenges, and rising demand for cleaner distributed generation from both developing and digital economies worldwide. One of the key challenges facing the industry is how to take advantage of new technologies to better manage the delivery of service to customers today and into the future. While introducing this new technology, utilities must keep data and networks secure to be in compliance with critical infrastructure protection regulations. The concept of "service management" for the smart grid provides an approach for getting started.