BBC has a fascinating report on smart meters. A smart meter is a device that shows the consumer, possibly even remotely via the internet, how much energy her appliances are using and what it's costing. They have, as BBC reports, the potential to save not only money for the consumer, but a huge amount of energy. In turn, that's very good for the environment.
Most consumers are unaware, because they don't have any way to tell, that the electrons they use at, say 3:00 in the afternoon are usually much more expensive than, say, the same number of electrons used at 3:00 in the morning. This is because at 3:00 in the morning, there's not as much demand -- fewer people are running computers, hair dryers, diswashers, etc. So electric companies shut down the plants that cost the most to run (due to, for example, fuel type or emissions costs) and run their cheaper, baseload, plants, likely nuclear, wind, hydro, etc. As more people wake up and start to use their toasters, electric coffee pots, computers, etc., the electric companies begin running their more expensive plants. But that simply doesn't show up at all in the electric bills that consumers receive, nor do current meters show this information to consumers. Similarly, consumers are often unaware of how much money they could save by, for example, unplugging their tvs when they turn them "off" or by setting their refrigerator a degree or two higher. A smart meter can provide this sort of information.
As BBC notes, there are some implementation issues that need to be worked out, but I think smart meters have a lot of potential. Instead of giving huge tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans, it's too bad the US government isn't giving a dollar-for-dollar tax break to electric companies to install smart meters in every home in America.
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