![Satellite image of North America at night showing electrical illumniation and outline of grid. Click for larger image.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120916085621im_/http://www.commerce.gov/sites/default/files/images/migrated/23163-1.jpg)
Photo: NASA
Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued an initial list of standards, a preliminary cyber security strategy, and other elements of a framework to support transforming the nation’s aging electric power system into an interoperable “Smart Grid,” a key component of the Obama administration’s energy plan and its strategy for American innovation. By integrating digital computing and communication technologies and services with the power-delivery infrastructure, the Smart Grid will enable bidirectional flows of energy and two-way communication and control capabilities. (More) (Release)