Building the 'Electranet'

"The smart grid won't only be able to handle plug-in hybrids (the most realistic "car of the future" candidate), it'll benefit from them. A national fleet of hybrid batteries will help provide storage capacity that our current distribution system sorely lacks. This is a key point: Solar and wind sources produce electricity in spurts-when the sun is highest, when the wind blows hardest. When you plug in your 2012 Volkswagen Golf Hybrid, its battery-along with all the others plugged-in around your neighborhood-will draw power when there's plenty, and pump it out when the grid is lacking. (And don't worry about your neighbor's gaudy Christmas light display sucking your car dry-that's why we'll have smart computers.)

Can such an integrated, comprehensive system ever actually get built? Ask the people of Boulder, Col., which Xcel Energy announced earlier this year–through this campy video-would be the nation's first "Smart Grid City." There's also heavy speculation floating of late that Google is going to train its brains on the grid. Last year the Internet giant announced an ambitious initiative to make "renewable energy cheaper than coal" (RE