In my local community, our school is turning green. In the corner of the school yard there is a wind turbine whirring away at high speed and there are solar panels arrayed across the roof. The advantage is not just energy independence, but, in the evenings and weekends, the school is able to sell the surplus electricity back to the grid. But, when I turn the corner, I am struck by a sense of disbelief when I see just how little control the local electricity company has over this operation: a manually operated switch at the top of a pole.