At an event on Capitol Hill, Chris Johns, president of Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), said the utility embraces the emerging technologies in energy, including rooftop solar, electric vehicles and smart appliances.

He envisions the electric grid connecting these technologies in ways that make them more valuable for customers and called it the “Grid of Things,” likening it to the concept of the “Internet of Things,” in which technologies from across the spectrum, from health care to homes to energy, are interconnected.

Johns refuted predictions that current trends in energy would bring about the demise of the century-old electric grid. Instead, he said, PG&E sees the “democratization of the grid.”

Last year, a blog on The Energy Collective made waves when it postulated that PG&E was being threatened by solar installations because of price competition and the utility’s inability to respond to a changed competitive landscape.