UTC to DOE: Utilities need spectrum for smart grid

From PennEnergy.com: The Utilities Telecom Council joined a chorus of comments filed at the Department of Energy, which recommended that utilities and other critical infrastructure industries, such as pipeline companies, need access to spectrum to support their communications needs.

Comments on the record — including those by the American Public Power Association, the Edison Electric Institute, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and the American Petroleum Institute — overwhelmingly support the need for spectrum. They universally agree that utilities and other critical infrastructure industries have increasing communications needs to support smart grid and emergency response communications.

To meet these needs, utilities will use a variety of different technologies, but wireless systems will be a key component; and access to licensed spectrum is necessary to ensure the reliability and security of utility wireless systems, now and in the future.