The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) says that while smart energy systems are on the rise, there are still barriers to widespread adoption.

The holy grail of the electricity industry is the smart grid, an optimized, self-healing and greener infrastructure that would reduce energy use and cost. Smart meters and demand response efforts, which temporarily reduces power consumption at peak times through voluntary efforts, are the first baby steps toward that vision. And they really go hand in hand. Smart meters provide real-time information on energy usage that can be fed back to customers and be used to automatically power down equipment and appliances when demand spikes.

FERC's report found that 4.7% of installed meters are advanced meters, up from 1% in 2006. More interesting, FERC estimates that demand response programs could reduce usage by 41 gigawatts, equaling 5.8% of U.S. peak demand.

The commission says that while progress has been made in a number of states, stumbling blocks to more adoption still exist, including, investment costs and lack of customer access to metering data. FERC recommends hourly pricing of energy (rather than on/off peak) and exploring connections to other energy efficiency and smart grid efforts.

Today's electricity grid is built around the need to meet peak demand. Many power plants sit idle until everyone's home watching TV and cooking dinner. Putting that plant online is pretty expensive, so the utility charges you more for that electricity.

Reducing demand at these times means less need to build and fire up electric plants, lower prices for consumers, and, ultimately, a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.