AT THE INTERSECTION OF TECHNOLOGY AND COMMON SENSE:

As power utilities work to restore electricity service to millions of people in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, at least one utility has found its investment in smart meters is making a difference.

Pepco, which serves Washington D.C. and parts of Maryland, is using these two-way meters to automatically locate where power outages on its network occurred. Once power is restored, the utility can also ping meters to verify service, rather than send out a crew or make a phone call, according to a Pepco representative. [...]

Cutting back trees near power lines is considered one of the best preventative measures. 

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