Current Group, a Germantown-based technology firm, has taken over an ordinary looking house in Bethesda and turned it into a laboratory for smart-grid technology, the system the company believes will bring the nation’s electricity grids into the digital age.
In the front yard stands a utility pole hooked up to a special transformer that connects the power lines to high-speed Internet. Hundreds of sensors attached to the lines monitor how power flows through the home. That information is then sent back to the utility company.
The process lets a utility more efficiently manage the distribution of electricity by allowing two-way communication between consumers and energy suppliers via the broadband network on the power lines. Based on data they receive from hundreds of homes, utilities can monitor usage and adjust output and pricing in response to demand. Consumers can be rewarded with reduced rates by cutting back on consumption during peak periods. And computerized substations can talk to each other so overloaded circuits hand off electricity to those that have not fully loaded, helping to prevent blackouts.
Some utility companies have launched initiatives to give consumers data about their energy consumption habits in an effort to lower energy bills. Smart-grid technology takes such programs further by automating electricity distribution, which would make grids more reliable and efficient.
By partnering with utilities, the company hopes to tap into $4.5 billion in stimulus grants intended to encourage smart-grid development. When he announced the funding, President Obama pointed to a project in Boulder, Colo. , as an example of a successful smart-grid experiment. Current is one of the companies working on the project.
Current’s chief executive Tom Casey believes the technology will help utility companies better distribute electricity produced by renewable resources, such as solar panels or wind farms. " A smart grid’s system can be paired up with the renewable resources so that when the renewable source is varying, the overall load can be varied as well, " Casey told the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. " This will reduce or eliminate the need for backup coal or gas-based power generation plants. \
Why is the system called " smart-grid " technology（）
A. Because with all the sensors and transformers, the equipment looks very modern
B. Because with all the data, they can help the utilities make clever decisions
C. Because the technology is making good use of computer intelligence
D. Because the consumers can have wise ideas on the usage of electricity
参考答案：C
解析：
推理判断题。根据出题顺序与行文顺序一致原则可知，该题答案可定位到第三段之后。第四段提到，智能电网技术通过自动配电，使得整个电网更可靠，也更高效。而智能电网技术离不开互联网和计算机分析，智能电网技术的“智能化”体现在很好地利用了计算机智能，故选C。文章中没有提到它外观是否时髦，因此排除A；根据数据做出明智的决定体现不出该系统的“智能化”，因此排除B；而D项是应用这项技术的结果，故也排除。