Power grids get jolt of net mgmt.
With summertime blackouts looming in California and elsewhere, the power industry acknowledges it has no network management technology to get a shared, real-time view of electricity flows or predict bottlenecks across the nation's three main grids. That's all about to change. Those three transmission grids, which are independently operated and date to the 1970s, have seen volumes grow from 200,000 bulk electricity transactions four years ago to 1.5 million last year as deregulation spurs new buying and selling patterns. The software tools take power flow data and provide regional security coordinators with a bird's eye view of grid reliability across North America. Currently there is no way for power providers to get the big picture on a real-time basis.