Why is Big Data such a Big Deal for electric utilities? Because many are starting to use advanced analytics software to turn the volumes of data streaming in from smart grid technologies into actionable business intelligence. In part one of our new buying guide, you'll discover some of the benefits they're seeing - including just-released results from Oncor's ambitious analytics initiative with IBM.

Utilities are now getting much more data about their equipment via meters, sensors and other intelligent devices and seeing the benefits of software that can pull together all that information and make sense of it. As a result, strategic asset management is entering its next phase, which is the focus of our latest eBook developed with the experts at UTILICASE. Download the free eBook to learn how your utility can glean the benefits of advanced analytics to develop a more strategic asset care program.

In the years after Edison brought forth Electricity 1.0, we continued to invent new ways to harness electricity to improve comfort, convenience and connectedness. Now as we move toward Electricity 2.0, the challenge is to combine updated technology with updated policy to enable not only better living, but better working as well. That's because Electricity 2.0 is directly tied to commerce and global competitiveness - and in this first segment of our new Electronomics series we'll explore the very interesting path that got us here.

A new poll has found that a majority of Americans – 70% – support infrastructure investment in national security. What does that tell us? That we should be making the connection between the smart grid initiative and national security clear to ratepayers and regulators.

After weeks of delay, the U.S. Senate confirmed physicist Ernest Moniz, President Obama's nominee, as head of the Energy Department Thursday in what was an unusual and surprising unanimous vote considering the political climate in Washington, D.C. We share some reactions from energy industry and environmental groups.

The Energy Future Coalition and the state of Maryland have issued the first report from their Utility 2.0 project on what should be considered in the development of utilities of the future. It offers specifics on key issues, from reliability and grid modernization to customer choice and regulatory changes.

Managing the massive amounts of data smart grids make possible isn't the biggest hurdle for utilities, according to the results of an Electric Power Research Institute survey. The really big issue is how to wring quantifiable value out of it.

Scotland has been extremely aggressive in its initiatives to develop a thoroughly optimized smart grid and as much renewable energy as possible. Now the country has its own world-class research center that will tackle transmission line loss and other challenging issues.

Europe has been aggressively developing renewable energy resources, but a study by Siemens and a German technical university found that poor choices have been made in siting renewable energy projects. The result? A tremendous waste of money. Read the story for details on what Siemens recommends to remedy the problem.

A preview of a utility smart grid investments and infrastructure spending survey released by Newton-Evans finds that utility spending is up in areas like transmission and distribution automation, but flat or lower in operations and maintenance.

Cyberattacks aren't just nuisances anymore. Attacks against energy companies used to be considered attempts to steal information or trade secrets. Now, those attacks focus on causing serious damage to networks and equipment, news reports say.

It took a while but microgrids have been gaining ground and getting a lot of attention lately. Joule Assets CEO Mike Gordon outlines why microgrids could be the tipping point that takes forward-thinking utilities from a traditional commodity provider role to a more service-oriented one.

Several solar companies have joined together to push for better net metering standards for their industry. They're certainly entitled, but for those companies to say U.S. electric utilities have mounted a coordinated attack on renewables leaves us very puzzled. We tell you why.

It looks like the buzz over the UK's plans for a massive smart meter rollout has fizzled a bit with the news that deployment has been delayed by at least a year. Ovum analyst Stuart Ravens offers a critical assessment of what went wrong.

If you want to know where the smart grid action will be over at least the next several years, look toward China, Japan and Korea. They are likely to invest a lot of money in ambitious, large-scale projects, say Navigant Research and Frost & Sullivan.