“SMART GRID” IS THE POLITICALLY CORRECT EUPHEMISM for a 'smart' electric power grid, which, when completed, will employ real-time, two-way digital data transmission between the energy supplier and the consumer’s appliances. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which is writing the draft standards for the smart grid, "The system would allow consumers to better manage and control their energy use and costs, reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil and create clean-energy jobs.”

That statement is just a bit disingenuous. In its initial stage, the smart grid may actually work as promised, by permitting demand pricing and allowing energy producers to better manage their spinning reserves.

We'll know the smart grid can deliver when in at least one situation in the United States, however restricted geographically or functionally, interactive communications have helped consumers reduce their energy use and cut their electricity bills. When will that be?

Probably not soon. Anyone with even an ounce of grey matter between the ears knows that’s the wrong question; the whole point of the smart grid is to reduce energy growth by controlling consumer energy consumption.

And that’s frightening.