I love this guy: )!!!! Seriously have a TON of respect for Mr. Butler . . . in researching his positions/statements it’s obvious he knows his stuff. And is interesting without all the fancy talk. I definetely recommend reading the rest of this article- lots more good stuff: )
http://www.smartgridnews.com/artman/publish/Business_Policy_Regulation_News/NARUC_Chairman_Charts_Smart_Grid_Path-502.html

Smart grid is described as a more efficient, less costly than moving electricity over transmission lines for long distance power lines and local end-users in homes and businesses.
Investments will take place in entire power system at home, in buildings, campuses, neighborhoods in cities and across continents. Already we see some of these improvements.

But while there is the injection or the hope of public Money, the Utilities will not put their own Money in the development of Smart Grid.
They do not do it for meanness, but by survival instinct, not worth pushing pushed they will not.
Below are some reasons for this.

SMART METERS
The old meters have survived until today because of their longevity and reliability – some more than 50 years of useful life.
New Smart Meters being installed now have a useful life of around 10 years, its
fragility – components and packaging – and in some situations, the hostile environment where they will be installed, will determine its useful life.
The Utilities will wait awhile to see the performance and new developments of the manufacturers of Smart Meters.

SYSTEM OF COMMUNICATION AND INTEGRATION
Here the variety of options is so many, vendors and developers, will have to reach an agreement without waiting for the Regulatory Agencies take the initiative.
The good side of this situation, is that the set of players are more accustomed to this kind of problem, because diversity is one of the main characteristics of their businesses.

RENEWABLE ENERGY
How will the integration of renewable energy – wind and solar – in the system.
Will be made in transmission lines separate or integrated the existing lines, we should be aware that renewable sources are intermittent, so its monitoring will involve sophisticated solutions management and distribution.
What happens if the wind stops blowing during the hottest days of summer, our current system electricity grid is poorly suited to manage variability of new sources of electricity. Solving the transition to new energy sources is only half the battle. After generating the power, you need to distribute it to where it is needed at the right time, in the right quantities.

CONSUMERS
Some consumers have great difficulty in understanding Special Rates, Demand Response and Peak Time. But consumers will be able to access these data so they can make adjustments in their consumption of energy. The cost of these meters is very high and is passed on to consumers.
The hope is that once consumers have access to information on their consumption of electricity, they will take steps to reduce electricity consumption to offset the cost. This raises the question of whether there is a compromise between cost benefit out of the most investments to achieve the goal of an intelligent net work.