Bloomberg reports that “on a recent muggy morning, Jeff Myerson, a manager for Houston-based CenterPoint Energy Inc. (CNP), is pointing to mundane-looking gray metal boxes up on a wooden utility pole. They mask high-tech capabilities: State-of-the-art wireless relays that collect information on customers’ power use in 15-minute intervals.”  

“He’s showing a visitor around Braeswood, a tree-lined neighborhood of several hundred 1950s-era ranch homes about seven miles (11 kilometers) southwest of downtown. It’s being refitted for CenterPoint’s ‘intelligent grid.’ This first phase is scheduled to be completed by year-end at a cost of $138 million, with the help of a $50 million U.S. grant.”  

“When fully deployed, the intelligent grid will encompass a network of sensors, switches, smart meters and data-analysis software that will ultimately give the utility unprecedented control and insight into its almost 50,000 miles of power lines and systems. Monitoring centers will collect and parse real-time data, including location of service trucks and crews.”