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This standard is intended to serve as the communications protocol for smart grids as well as providing WAN facilities to end users.

Chicago (IL) - Broadband over power lines is marching closer to actual availability. The P1901 Working Group today announced the release of the first draft defining medium access control and physical layer specifications for IEEE's Standard P1901. The draft was approved with more than 82% majority vote during a meeting held in Tokyo from July 21 - 24, the IEEE announced today. The initial version is based on technologies using FTT and Wavelet OFDM modulation schemes.

The process, Current says, 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 underused ones, helping to prevent blackouts.