Fortune Online has an article about how San Jose hopes to reduce the $3.5 million spent annually to light it's streets by replacing sodium lights with low-energy LED and by monitoring the whole system through a smart network. The 125-light test, due to launch this summer, will be implemented by hometown smart-grid company Echelon (ELON). The streetlight network will function in a similar way to a smart electricity grid. Using the city's wi-fi network, Echelon's networking technology enables the lights to transfer real-time data about the status and performance of any given bulb. That way, maintenance crews won't have to search for a fried bulb. The city will be able to monitor energy consumption, anticipate outages and dim lights to save energy at the flip of a master switch. Complete article.