• Federal stimulus money has helped to set up the Pecan Street Project's trial effort to integrate smart grid features for some Austin, Texas, residents.
• Brewster McCracken, the executive director for the project, explains to the PBS NewsHour's Miles O'Brien how smart grid tech can improve utility response times for repairs. (Watch the video here.)
• The segment also looks inside the home of a family using smart grid tech and monitoring usage.

From the article:

The summer months are heating up, and the record-breaking temperatures have been made especially painful with the power outages that have plagued the mid-Atlantic states in 2012. With all the power outages has come the question: is there a way to make our power grids more reliable? ...