Kitchen of the future circa 2010

NISKAYUNA, N.Y.--People first touted the Internet refrigerator as a way to access the Internet from your kitchen. Now General Electric has found a more practical use for the networked fridge: the smart grid.

GE hosted a media day on the smart grid on Tuesday at its research lab in upstate New York, where it announced its net-zero energy home project and showed off this "kitchen of the future." Rather than let humans browse the Web, these networked appliances talk to smart meters in order to be more energy efficient.

Appliances can shave owners' bills in a few ways, cued by a "price signal" sent by the utility via the meter. If electricity rates go higher during peak times, appliances can go into conservation mode and dial down their consumption. Or these appliances decide to do their mode power-hungry tasks, like making ice, at off-peak times.