Southern California Edison (SCE) is planning to launch a demonstration project on 30 June 2013 which will include electric-distribution infrastructure, substations and residential homes.
The project is anticipated to help the company, General Electric (GE), and other participants fine-tune the software, communications, automation, hardware, and network management tools.
SCE Advanced Technology director Doug Kim said that the company is moving the smart grid discussion from engineering and concepts on the drawing boards to its customers.
"Consumers who have been hearing about a smarter electric grid will now experience it firsthand," Kim added.
"With increased insight, more options, and greater control over their energy usage, consumers in this demonstration project will help us engineer a better energy future."
GE Digital Energy business general manager Mike Carlson commented that the company’s engineers have been working for decades to make a smarter grid.
"This project will build the model for technologies, organizational structure, employee training, and cost/benefit metrics to modernize our power grid nationwide," added Carlson.
US-based SCE serves 14 million customers in Central, Coastal, and Southern California.