As the Role of the Distributor Changes, so Will the Need for New Technology

As elucidated in several other chapters, the grid provides substantial value that goes beyond the delivery of electricity to consumers who produce their energy locally. This chapter asserts that implementing technologies that will modernize the grid will enhance its value to all consumers and enable higher penetration of local energy resources and that grid connectivity provides the overall least-cost approach to society with reliability and high quality with increasing penetration of distributed generation. The chapter's primarily goal is to elucidate how the need for new technology will change as the role of the distributor changes.