This has been around for a few years now, I know my local electrical company tried a scheme in 1998.
Not sure what the state of play is now, I think the largest problem was getting past the Sub Transformers, although they did achieve some success.
http://members.lycos.co.uk/sixfour/f...etwo/neeb.html
this link shows it was cancelled due to lack of funds
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/archive/6664.html