Hundreds of people attended a meeting in Welshpool on 20 April opposing plans by National Grid to build the 19-acre substation.

BBC: ScottishPower extends Powys pylon plans consultation

That means Powys council will decide planning on the 19 acre electricity sub station which the National Grid wants to build, but the power lines are to be decided by the IPC - the Infrastructure Planning Commission - set up by the previous Labour government to fast-track and speed up planning on nationally important projects.

BBC: What are the wind power issues?

And GE (NYSE:GE) recently announced that it will be partnering with the City of Yangzhou to build a smart grid demonstration center.

FORBES: China's Smart Grid Boom

But once you build a micro-grid, you are committed to what you have built.

FORBES: Mobile Solar Generators - One Man's Odyssey to Bring Power Back to New York

As the first to build out an Internet grid, the U.S. is more vulnerable than countries that have built their infrastructure later.

WSJ: Internet Attacks Are a Real and Growing Problem

There are already a dozen offshore wind farms, and nine European countries pledged this week to build a giant offshore wind grid.

FORBES: Generation

Masayoshi Son, a wireless tycoon, plans to build huge solar-power stations and a new grid to connect Japanese prefectures.

ECONOMIST: Energy in Japan

Given that it takes a decade or so to go from deciding to build a reactor to feeding the resulting electricity into a grid, reactors being planned now may still be working in the early 22nd century.

ECONOMIST: The dream that failed

Toshiba said it plans to build the business as a stand-alone platform providing utilities pursuing the smart grid opportunity.

FORBES: Toshiba Buys Smart-Grid Pioneer

Iran shut down its electricity grid several times last winter to conserve gas, says former energy official Fesharaki, and it plans to build at least 600 compressed natural gas stations this year to reduce demand for gasoline.

FORBES: International