https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g8dvqp34qo
Smart electricity meters will be rolled out in Northern Ireland from 2028, according to the Department for the Economy.
Smart meters are widely used in the rest of the UK and in Ireland, providing real-time information to energy suppliers while giving households information on their electricity usage and costs.
The rollout is set to cost more than £500m, with the regulator expecting IT costs expected to increase that total to the "late hundreds of millions".
Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald said current energy costs facing bill payers are "not fair and not sustainable" adding smart meters would be "supporting consumers to better manage their electricity usage".
At the minute, we all have a meter somewhere in the house which needs to be checked manually to help work out our electricity bill.
Smart meters automatically send that information straight back to the network, along with other data about how the grid is operating.
Smart meters also show bill payers their own electricity usage in real-time on a small display, providing information on into when they are using more electricity and how much it is costing them.
Aidan Thornbury, Smart Meters Manager at the Utility Regulator, told BBC News NI that "estimated billing will be a thing of the past".
"Consumers can have more certainty over their usage and what their bills will be."
The upgrade is also part of a wider push to increase the efficiency of the grid and to encourage power consumption patterns that are more aligned with intermittent renewable sources such as wind and solar.
Those changes could see the overall cost of electricity generation fall over time, helping reduce our reliance on more expensive fossil fuels, and ensure less waste with the green energy we produce.