Communication and control (the IoT) are going to increase the efficiency of the existing grid but beyond that it would be hard to even start thinking of what the ultimate solution will be and how it will come about.

IoT devices will increase the grid's efficiency, but their low cost and quick proliferation will cancel out the savings in consumption very rapidly. The ultimate solutions, taking this into account, need to be proactively developed ASAP.

How often does proactive development of this sort occur?