> One interesting option is the option to let customers choose where they want to be on the reliability vs price scale. ... > t could just as easily be implemented by your own electricity meter - effectively a breaker which opens when it detects crisis.

What you're really talking about is demand response. It's been around a while in both commercial and residential settings.

It doesn't really address reliability to the extent that reliability depends on investments in distribution, transmission, generation, fuel to the generators, etc. If those aren't there, it doesn't matter if the user has opted into reliable (non-interruptable) power, because the power won't reliably be at the meter to begin with.