Our electricity system in the UK was designed for a time when we had a few central generating coal-fired power stations and millions of consumers (homes, schools, hospitals, offices, factories, shops, churches and farms). Now we have the possibility of generating electricity from the Sun, wind, waves and water in small quantities at a local level. In fact if you have a roof you could be a generator (produce electricity) and a consumer (use electricity) if you have solar panels. If you are a farmer you could also have your own wind turbines.
The old way of buying electricity was good for the old electricity system. But if many of us have solar panels then it is possible to buy electricity differently. Peer-to-peer electricity allows us to buy and sell electricity on our local street and area. Some people are exploring this and similar ideas. To do this we would need smart meters and an internet market place to buy and sell. Ultimately this could happen without people needing to get involved by automatically matching supply (generation) and demand (use) in the background.
Living Laudato Si' 