Deployment of smart grid technology from U.S. utility control centers and power networks to consumers' homes could cost between $338 billion and $476 billion over the next 20 years, but will deliver $1.3 trillion to $2 trillion in benefits over that period. The benefits will include greater grid reliability, integration of solar rooftop generation and plug-in vehicles, reductions in electricity demand, and stronger cybersecurity, according to a new study by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).

The projected costs of deploying digital controls and applications on the grid, averaging $17 billion to $24 billion a year, will fall most heavily on utility distribution systems that deliver power to retail customers, EPRI concluded. About 70 percent of the total investment in the higher-cost estimate would be required to upgrade substations, lines, poles, meters, billing and communication systems on the retail side to enable smart grid technologies and replace aging equipment, the study says.