Boulder, Colo.: America's First 'Smart Grid City'

Since they started the program, they have been able to produce 590.7 fewer pounds of carbon, saving enough to microwave 154 pizzas. Multiply that by 50,000 customers -- the number currently expected to install the system -- and it can make quite an impact.

Another resident of Smart Grid City made his home so efficient that his utility bill has nearly vanished.

"Our monthly bill was $3," the resident said.

Each home's smart meter keeps track of where the energy powering the house is coming from. Bud Peterson believes the system could change the way consumers buy energy.

"Today, when you go online to buy an airline ticket, you can select on schedule or price," he said. "And with this type of system, you will be able to select whether you would like to use renewable energy, sustainable energy or coal-fired."

For the Petersons, all the decisions can be made over the Internet, from anywhere in the world.

"If we left to go away for the weekend and we realize we left the air-conditioning on or we'd left some other things on, we could go through the Internet, through the Web from any computer, from your iPod or iPhone, and change the settings in the house, control the thermostat setting or a lot of the electrical appliances," said Bud Peterson.

It's a system that tempts users, like Val Peterson, to look even further into the future.

"You've got a GPS locator that knows your location, and so if you're driving back home you can actually program the system so that when you got within 5 miles of where you lived or where you worked it would turn the air-conditioning on or off automatically based on your location," she said.

Gogel believes the project will prove to the world these kinds of systems are the future of energy.

"I honestly believe that as new houses are built this will become the standard that gets incorporated into the house," Gogel said. "You want to have a zero-energy house. It makes sense over time."

Until then, Boulder's happy to use it's power to show America how to use less.