How smart grid technology tames the wind and solar energy and storms to stabilize your home power.
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/2/26/102525/236#12
The fact is that with ever increasing storms of ever increasing intensity due to GHG, all grids are vulnerable. so every home or building needs backup emergency power.
A smart grid would shut down only the damaged section of a grid and supply emergency power to the rest until the problem is fixed.
Old style centralized grids can never do that. They are inherently unstable with no control over loads or accidents. Phone calls and repair trucks take too much time to respond to changing conditions.
Smart grids also allow storage and load response that lowers peak demand, and that uses less backup power. Allowing renewables to provide more. Smart grids also fit well with conservation.
