The transmission of energy is monitored in the smart grid through deploying sensors in all the components, including the overhead transmission lines. There are many poles/towers supporting a long overhead transmission line. Naturally, sensors are deployed on the location close to the poles/towers on each span. Due to the limited transmission range of the wireless transceiver module of a sensor, researchers generally assume that data generated by a sensor have to be delivered to the substation through a set of sensors in-between. This results in a linear network model. In this paper, we first analyze the performance of this model in handling the traffics extracted from an existing testbed. We realize that the linear network model may not be sufficient to support future smart grid applications which may have diversified requirements on data delivery. We then study a new network model in which sensor/relay nodes can also communicate with other nodes using a wide area network such as the cellular network. In this new model, the network formed can be reconfigured based on the application requirements to deliver information to the substations efficiently and effectively.

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