Smart grids are electricity networks that utilize digital technologies to better match supply and demand of electricity in real-time, improving its efficiency of usage and improving our clean energy transition process. Their implementation will increase our reliance on variable renewables like wind and solar, driving up overall electricity demand further straining existing infrastructure; smart grids are designed to manage this transition more effectively while making our existing infrastructure more resilient.

Smart Grids offer consumers an effective solution for lowering electricity costs by providing tools to track their own electricity use and take advantage of different tariff arrangements based on when power is being consumed, including off-peak tariff arrangements or flexible billing rates. In addition, these grids can coordinate production from customer-owned power generators such as rooftop solar panels – helping communities keep essential services such as police departments, traffic lights and telephone networks running even when electricity from utility providers is unavailable.

Smart Grids can reduce the risk of outages by helping utilities quickly detect anomalies in the network and deploy remote control technology to automatically resolve some problems. This can prevent costly power surges or blackouts caused by faults or technical energy losses, and help our power system accommodate more frequent and extreme weather events.