  This paper investigates the possibility of building the Energy Internet via a
packetized management of non-industrial loads. The proposed solution is based
on the cyber-physical implementation of energy packets where flexible loads
send use requests to an energy server. Based on the existing literature, we
explain how and why this approach could scale up to interconnected micro-grids,
also pointing out the challenges involved in relation to the physical
deployment of electricity network. We then assess how machine-type wireless
communications, as part of 5G and beyond systems, will achieve the low latency
and ultra reliability needed by the micro-grid protection while providing the
massive coverage needed by the packetized management. This more distributed
grid organization also requires localized governance models. We cite few
existing examples as local markets, energy communities and micro-operator that
support such novel arrangements. We close the paper by providing an overview of
ongoing activities that support the proposed vision and possible ways to move
forward.
