The energy transition is straining transmission and distribution networks, with distributed generation, load growth, and extreme weather converging on infrastructure never designed for this variability. Meeting these demands is driving a shift from standalone devices toward integrated solutions. By combining capabilities such as sensing and switching, assets like reclosers and load break switches can serve multiple roles, including protection, energy and power-quality measurement, and can support new approaches to locating and even preventing faults. Because cost and supply constraints often rule out wholesale replacement, the installed base must be part of the plan, with intelligence gathered from both new and existing assets, opening the door to increasingly predictive grid operation