America’s economic growth in the 20th century can be attributed to infrastructure development, including interstate highways and rural electrification.

Such investment has been lacking in recent decades, however, and I have worried we might fall behind in the 21st century. But now, with the federal government’s investment in smart-grid infrastructure, we have a better chance to progress this century, and cities like Chattanooga, at the heart of the movement, have a unique opportunity to gain a long-term advantage.

The smart meters being installed by EPB, which received one of the largest federal grants for the project in the country, will yield efficiency in electric-system grids the way hybrid vehicles yield efficiency in cars. Yet the technology is believed to be timeless, not just filling a momentary gap until better technology is created.

Smart meters connected to smart appliances can shut a refrigerator off when power is not needed in nonpeak times. Smart meters can tell a utility how better to manage electrical flow across its system.

Smart meters can make one community that much stronger than another, and we’re fortunate the movement is under way and that Chattanooga is right in the middle of it.

E-mail David Magee at dmagee@timesfreepress.com.