In what ways would our (North American) grid have to change in order to accept distributed generation?

How would the North American energy grid have to change in order to accept more home generation? What could we do to tolerate surplus generation from this?

Related question: How much would the grid have to change in order for energy storage methods like re-pumping dams during surplus generation from Solar or wind? Is it reasonable to use methods like that, given line losses due to distances?