A two-way electricity grid with a greater role for batteries and smart meters is being developed by smart governments as they race to cut carbon emissions.
"The fact is net zero is going to fundamentally change our lives," energy expert Anna Collyer told a business summit on Tuesday.
"Within our children's lifetimes, petrol cars and gas stoves - like answering machines and street directories - will become things of the past," she said.
Electrification, where businesses, industry, hospitals and schools switch from coal and gas to renewable energy and battery systems, is crucial for cutting emissions but for homes, the effect will be transformational, Ms Collyer told the AFR Energy and Climate Summit.
The chair of the Australian Energy Market Commission also chairs the Energy Security Board of regulators that advises federal, state and territory governments.
Ms Collyer expects many households will shift from having multiple fuel sources to just one, covered in a single electricity bill that allows them to see the true cost and figure out how to change their behaviour.
"That consolidated bill may or may not be larger than current spending but it will definitely be easier than juggling two or three different fuel costs," she said.
Rooftop solar and home battery systems could also drive down demand and ease the pressure on the national grid as industries ramp up their electricity use, she said.
Regulators estimate these consumer systems will account for one-fifth of underlying demand across the grid.
"The more of these assets we have, the less grid-scale capacity we need, with a potential $6 billion benefit to Australia," she said.
So-called smart meters look into the home or business to use data about energy use and give the information to consumers to turn power into knowledge.
For example, in South Australia, excess rooftop solar power in the middle of the day is soaked into the grid in return for a "sponge tariff" that costs a quarter of the normal household rate.
This encourages more electricity use when the supply is abundant and harnesses millions of small assets - solar panels.
"But you can only do that if you have a smart meter," Ms Collyer said.
Energy apps might not be as popular as TikTok or Instagram, but they could have a big impact on power use and support consumers to change their energy behaviour.
Electric cars will provide batteries on wheels with spare power that could also be sent into the grid with the right system settings and regulations.
However, consumer research shows Australians aren't getting the full benefit of smart meters.
"They find them so boring that our researchers estimate a third of people who have smart meters don't even know they've got one," she said.
