Most residences and commercial buildings in the U.S. currendy use an old-style electromechanical utility power meter to track electricity use. The meters are reliable and cheap but hopelessly inadequate for use by a power-distribution system that requires accurate, repeatable power metrics, as well as wired or wireless communications - in other words, the coming Smart Grid electrical-power-distribution system.rnThe Smart Grid depends on smart meters with sophisticated communication capabilities to monitor energy usage and allow residential and business consumers alike to make informed choices about how much energy to use and when to consume it. The Smart Grid faces difficulties, though. Although, at the federal level, Washington has passed legislature such as the 2007 energy bill and the 2009 stimulus plan, utilities actually deploy power on a state-by-state basis. California and Texas are the states most aggressively moving toward smart metering in preparation for the Smart Grid.
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