CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric LLC, a subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy Inc., is deploying a pilot of an "intelligent grid" that will allow the power grid to transmit its status using strategically placed sensors and new "smart" electric meters planned for installation in all customer homes and businesses.

Don Cortez, vice president of distribution support for the company's electric operations, said the new technology will help the utility to virtually upgrade its power lines, substations and other electrical transmission equipment without needing a complete and hugely expensive physical replacement. The price tag for the five-year project is US$300 million.

Businesses and consumers have much higher demands for electrical power, Cortez said, while the power system itself still largely uses wire and components from the 1950s.

"What we really need to do is add a layer of intelligence to that 1950s wire," Cortez said. "What we're putting together is the enabling platform to make this happen."

Under the pilot project, several hundred sensors will be placed in strategic locations throughout the power grid and connected to a pilot BPL system that the company completed last year. The sensors will be like eyes and ears that can deliver information on the condition of the system, including voltages and other feedback, via the BPL system directly to IBM-provided databases and analytical software. "Obviously, the more [sensors] I have, the more information I get back," he said.