NIST moves toward smart-grid road map

(April 8) The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded a $1.3 million contract to the Electric Power Research Institute to help the agency determine the architecture and initial standards for an electric-power smart grid. EPRI, a nonprofit research and development group, will help NIST create an interim road map for the smart grid, a nationwide network that will use information technology with the goal of helping U.S. utilities deliver electricity more efficiently and reliably. NIST and EPRI announced the contract.