Research Professor Bob Hebner argues that the advent of distributed generation and automated transactions will change how we produce and consume electricity in a new paper published by IEEE Spectrum. Hebner, director of UT’s Center for Electromechanics, asserts that while 20th century infrastructure needs to be modernized, technology is providing a path to upgrade the grid rather than simply replace it. To accomplish this lofty and thorny goal, he adds, a spate of technical, financial, and regulatory challenges must be overcome to combine infrastructure enhancement with continuous capability improvement. Read more.