Improving power grid reliability is a major goal of the electric power industry and can reduce economic losses, lost productivity, and customer inconvenience from power disruptions. For several utilities, Smart Grid Investment Grant (SGIG) funding accelerated the application of fault location, isolation, and service restoration (FLISR) technologies and systems that help accomplish fewer and shorter outages.

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the electricity industry have jointly invested over $7.9 billion in 99 cost-shared Smart Grid Investment Grant projects to modernize the electric grid, strengthen cybersecurity, improve interoperability, and collect an unprecedented level of data on Smart Grid and customer operations. The report draws from the experiences of five utilities conducting seven SGIG projects (involving 10 total operating companies).