Is the nation ready for a smart grid?

Google and other titans of Silicon Valley are touting new grid technologies as the key to reducing greenhouse gases, lowering power bills and creating green jobs. Meanwhile, President Obama's economic-stimulus plan is pouring $4.6 billion into grid technologies. But Frederick Butler, who is chairman of NARUC, the association of utility regulators in all 50 states, isn't sure the time is right for retrofitting the grid with trendy but untried devices.

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