The Associated Press reports that a new program in Milton, Ontario Canada may be the leader in electricity conservation, through the use of a smarter electricity grid. The idea is that the grid itself may be able to send cues to consumers about how and when to use power, which would lower electricity bills while encouraging energy conservation, ultimately lessening the need for new power plants to be built.

Electricity use per home rose 23 percent from 1981 to 2001, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.Smart home controls, which let people create their own savings plans by programming automatic controls on their computers, aren't revolutionary. What's new about the  smart grid program is when the grid itself contacts the homes, adjusting home controls when power demand is too high and the grid is in danger of outages. In the Milton test, pricing plans will vary, where generally households will pay the cheapest, "off-peak" rates most of the time, subject to "critical peak" periods of even higher rates during strain on the grid.