Digital technology has allowed for two-way communication between electricity utilities and its customers. You can think of a "smart grid" as the equivalent of your smartphone compared to an old dial telephone.

Here's a taste of what our "smart" system will do:  

• Not only will Territorians generate energy from their own panels, but they’ll also be able to trade clean energy locally with neighbours, the nearby solar garden, or the solar project at the edge of town  
• When the sun is shining smart software will send a signal to energy users to turn on their pumps and fill up their batteries. Future electricity use will be much more dynamic – demand follows generation, as much as generation follows demand 
• If there’s a big storm and a power line goes down, network control can decide to ‘island’ a town or a suburb, disconnecting it for a few hours or days from the main grid and running it on electricity from solar, batteries and other local renewables, which turns that area into a micro-grid and helps the Territory weather the storm’s aftermath