Only Connect E ElEctricity infrastructurE is thE cornErstonE of EvEry industrialized nation in the world. as the utility grid ages and the demand for electricity grows, the impact of major interruptions of the electricity infrastructure will be more intense. costly power outages throughout the world caused by natural disasters such as floods and hurricanes have highlighted the importance of reinforcing the electricity infrastructure. a recent study conducted for the u.s. department of Energy indicated that sustained power interruptions (those lasting more than 5 min) in the united states incur costs of more than us$26 billion dollars annually. Power outages caused by hurricanes sandy and Katrina in the united states threw into notice the crucial role of smart grid technology and the need for further investments in more comprehensive data communication and distribution By Liang Che, Mohammad Khodayar, and Mohammad Shahidehpour Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPE.2013.2286317 Date of publication: 17 December 2013 70 ieee power & energy magazine 1540-7977/14/$31.00©2014IEEE january/february 2014