Interview Question for Software Lead at Itron:

Natural gas or water can be stored in cylinders or tanks to be used when pipelines are damaged and service disrupted. To power a building or locality when the supply is disrupted, we need generators and the difference is that electricity has to be generated as it is used, it cannot be pre-generated and stored. Smart metering enables utility companies to make an estimate of the usage in the serviced region so that they can provision for generators of sufficient capacity to cater to user needs in case of emergency.