In the US's most oil-producing state, Texas, people like big pick-ups.

And independence.

This is manifested, among other things, in the fact that it is the only state with an electricity network that is not connected to the rest of the USA.

When the electricity grid collapsed after winter storms last year, the interruption therefore lasted an extra long time, when it was not possible to transfer electricity directly from neighboring states.

But there is an ongoing development in Texas that makes "the Lone Star State" a guiding light for the energy transition in the United States.

Battery park in the neighborhood

In the Texas capital Austin, the Mueller district is at the forefront of technological development in terms of building a self-sufficient and smart electricity grid.

Here are many solar panels on the roofs.

In the neighborhood there is a battery park where the energy is saved when production is at its peak, and delivers back to the local electricity grid when the sun is no longer shining.

- It balances, you avoid the fluctuations that otherwise occur from solar cells when it gets cloudy, explains Cameron Freberg at Austin Energy.

Some 100 households are involved in a project run by the research organization Pecan Street to test how a connected home can communicate directly with the electricity company.

The goal is to optimize the timing of electricity use and make it easier to plan electricity production.

- In this way, we can avoid the peaks in electricity consumption for which the electricity grid must be dimensioned.

If you avoid them, you will reduce the total cost of operating the electricity grid, says Scott Hinson, technical manager at Pecan Street.

Can benefit from solar cells

A smart grid allows flows in both directions.

Both in terms of data and electricity.

Hinson sees in front of him how the equipment required for cars to be able to "refuel" electricity will be cheaper in the future, and then it opens up the opportunity for households to even make money on their solar cells and electric cars.

- If you can plan your everyday life so that they charge the car via the solar panels during the day, and then sell the electricity back to the energy company when the electricity price is at its highest in the evening.

In the video, you get examples of how the electricity company can remotely control things in the home to reduce the electricity bill.