Distributed Generation Revisited: Part II, Simple Coordination

My last LJ tilted the joust at the simplest involvement one can have with one's electrical consumption and still be considered aware: Real-time monitoring. After all, how can one cut down on one's consumption if one has really no idea how much power the gadgetry scattered about the house is drawing from the power lines? Once that task is accomplished, the question arises about what to do next. That depends upon what options the utility makes available, unfortunately. For that reason, the following two stages of distributed generation, while promising in the extreme for managing power in a resource-poor future, may not be options for all. ( Still, they are worth exploring. )