The grid will work just fine without any cell connections.
The connection in home smart meters is used mostly just for consumption data and maybe remote diagnostics. In some cases it's used for load management, but this requires a written contract with the user.
Basically it goes "You let us turn off your AC/Furnace/other high load unit during load peaks and we'll give you a discount on your electric bill."
Just the information on which meters can't be connected to (due to cell networks being down) gives the power company a bunch of data on where the actual fault is located.
The connection in home smart meters is used mostly just for consumption data and maybe remote diagnostics. In some cases it's used for load management, but this requires a written contract with the user.
Basically it goes "You let us turn off your AC/Furnace/other high load unit during load peaks and we'll give you a discount on your electric bill."
Just the information on which meters can't be connected to (due to cell networks being down) gives the power company a bunch of data on where the actual fault is located.