Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have devised a strategy to use local distributed electricity generation, distribution automation, and smart meters to form small electricity "islands" that would support critical social services in the event of a substantial disruption. The researchers contend that rethinking the solution to sustaining electric power during extreme disturbances and starting small could keep critical services going, even when the high-voltage grid is crippled. Distributed generation (DG), which collects and distributes electricity from many small energy sou...