Why ECC? 
SMART GRID SECURITY
This new network's openness and two-way communications capabilities represent an entirely new category of risk for what has traditionally been an isolated transmission and distribution system. In order for smart energy homes with demand response capabilities to become part of the Smart Grid infrastructure, hundreds of millions of devices will have to be connected to utility networks and the public Internet. This would be not unlike millions of units all connected on a virtual private network (VPN).
Once these devices are on a network, they will benefit from remote management and firmware upgrades which in turn, will leave them vulnerable to attack by a hacker with only rudimentary equipment and a background in electronics and software engineering. Consumers' private billing and banking information could be compromised resulting in the diversion of funds. Artificially created overloads could iniating wide-scale blackouts and causing millions of dollars in economic damage.
Rather than trying to ensure the security of the current 1,800 producers of bulk power in the USA, those responsible for Smart Grid security will have to manage millions of touch points in homes, farms and businesses.
A recent report by the US Department Of Homeland Security and Energy states: Energy control systems are subject to targeted cyber attacks. Potential adversaries have pursued progressively devious means to exploit flaws in system components, telecommunications methods and common operating systems found in modern energy systems with the intent to infiltrate and sabotage vulnerable control systems.