Smart grid

Germany has laid out an ambitious timetable to get nearly all of its power from renewable sources like wind and solar within 40 years, but there are major challenges ahead.

Five years ago today, a power outage blanketed parts of North America. The outage highlighted the fragility of our electricity system. And with energy demands rising, the economy in a slump and global warming fears taking center stage, ‘smart grid’ technologies could provide solutions.

The city of Boulder, Colorado has a few smart grid homes already up and running. Host Steve Curwood talks with Kara Mertz, the Local Environmental Action Division Manager for Boulder about her city’s smart grid plan.