September was a busy month for those operating in the smart grid sector. Stimulus funds, new grid innovations, and a gathering of grid enthusiasts at GridWeek 2009 really brought a lot of attention to the upgrade of the grid. To add to the buzz, the Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability released six reports on what the smart grid will mean for policymakers, regulators, environmental groups, technology providers, utilities, and consumer advocates.

These books are meant to build upon the smart grid publication first released by the office in 2008, titled “The Smart Grid: An Introduction.” In targeting the new series to specific stakeholders, the DOE is providing a breakdown of how a smart grid will benefit each group, the challenges it will bring, and what role they must play in order to achieve implementation. It’s important that we get more items like this out and into the hands of decision makers, as learning about the smart grid is the first step in achieving one. Each book even includes a “smart grid glossary” of terms worth knowing – words that every interested party should know if they care about the direction we take in modernizing the grid. The reports are available for free by clicking on the links of individual stakeholders above.