Smart Grid Blog

BTi Energy Management announced today that they will be spearheading the commercial and industrial energy management metering and reporting business in North America in a new partnership with Wescon Technology.

The core of the BTi Energy Management offering is a leading edge multi-circuit electric meter with a built in web-server and more standard communication options then you will see anywhere else. The system scales easily from self contained systems on a closed network to nationwide deployments that allow head offices to compare detailed energy usage at all their facilities. Add automated reports sent out via email and the ability to consolidate data from multiple meters scattered all over the country connected by the Internet and you have a very powerful energy management solution.

via Newswire – PR / BTi Energy Management Partners to Bring Multi-Circuit Electric Meter to Market – Energy – BTi Energy Management | NewswireToday.

Whether you are planning to live “off the grid” and free yourself from energy bills or just “kick back” and enjoy lower energy bills, the first step is always to understand your home’s energy usage and employ good old fashioned energy conservation techniques.

via There’s No Substitute for Smart Energy Conservation.

California’s big utilities have some tough deadlines to meet to give their customers the useful — if at times potentially unwelcome — energy usage data being collected by the millions of smart meters they’re deploying across the state. In a largely overlooked ruling, the California Public Utilities Commission said in December that Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric have until the end of 2010 to give their customers — and approved third parties, which could include Google, Microsoft or other makers of energy data portals — smart meter data that the utilities have collected in their back office servers.

via Cali Utilities: Get Ready to Give Your Customers Smart Meter Data!.

Do you want your fridge talking about you behind your back?

With the rapid adoption of a North American “smart grid” aimed at helping consumers conserve electricity, it’s also possible that smart appliances will be able to transmit information about their activities (and yours) through the power lines. Your electricity utility may not yet be able to determine when you snack, do laundry or shower, but privacy advocates are sounding the alarm that systems need to be put in place to guard details about a household’s electricity usage from prying eyes.

via CBC News – Technology & Science – Smart grid could turn appliances into spies, experts warn.

The EU has ambitious plans for more efficient energy usage across the continent that integrates renewable sources into a secure power grid that emits far less CO2.  These goals, if they are to be reached by 2020, are heavily dependent on a successful smart grid deployment.

The smart grid will bring about a number of improvements to the power industry including the ability to include renewable sources.  Consumers will have a far better handle on how they are using energy through the use of a smart meter or display unit and utilities will have much more visibility into the level of supply and demand with the networked smart grid architecture.

via Europe’s goals rely upon smart grid development.

Thousands of area residents with electric meters that transmit usage data wirelessly soon will be able to examine their power habits online.

CenterPoint Energy, along with other distribution utilities and IBM, is expected to launch an online portal, www.smartmetertexas.com, this month that will allow customers to monitor usage in real time regardless of which retailer provides their electricity.

via Site to let customers track electricity use in real time | Technology News | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.

Smart metering, a key element of the so-called Smart Grid, has been touted as a great bright hope that will enable residential electric customers to cut their usage, thereby reducing greenhouse gases as well as their monthly bills. By providing immediate feedback to customers as to how much power they are using, what their annual bill is projected to be and how their usage compares to that of their neighbors, it is hoped that the meters will motivate ratepayers to adjust their behavior and their electronics so as to reduce overall load on the system.

via Will Consumers Get Smart with Smart Meters? |Triple Pundit.

More than 1 million U.S. households now receive reports on how their energy consumption compares with their neighbors as utilities encourage conservation, some with smiley faces for those doing well.

The reports — deployed by 25 utilities, including six of the 10 biggest — have resulted in households cutting energy use an average of 2% to 3%, says Alex Laskey, co-founder of Opower, which provides the reports.

via Do you use more energy than your neighbors? – USATODAY.com.

Intel has unveiled its latest Home Automation System that runs on the company’s energy-efficient Atom processor and features a large 11” touch-sensitive OLED display. The OLED panel is expected to be developed by Sony.

via Intel’s Atom-powered Home Automation System Helps Save Energy – Ecofriend.

Would you wash your dishes at 2 a.m. if it meant significant savings on your electric bill?

What if your dishwasher could be programmed to kick on at 2 a.m., and you could stay in bed?

Now we might be talking.

That’s the sort of futuristic energy use for which the city of Naperville is now planning, thanks in large part to an $11 million federal stimulus grant and $11 million in matching city funds. The money will be used to install a smart grid that will enable both the Department of Electric Utilities and individual consumers to digitally monitor energy usage and adjust habits for maximum efficiency.

via Naperville’s energy use to get more intelligent :: Naperville Sun :: Local News.

If you think it’s impossible to actually keep track of your electricity use, how you use it, or when you use it, think again. Green Tech reports that it’s only a matter of time before many of us will have access to a wealth of information about our energy usage. According to Pike Research, by 2015 there will be 28.1 million users of home energy information displays—accessed through smart meters, Web-based dashboards, or mobile phones—that will enable us to view our electricity consumption, often in real time.

via Energy Efficiency Displays Will Be Commonplace by 2015 | HeatingOil.com.

Advancing technologies and proliferation of wide ranging electrical and electronic gadgets are driving up the consumption of electricity at a high rate, market research firm TechNavio Insights reportedly found.

via Smart Grid.

Britain is to shift to a smart energy system, including a national smart grid, which should pave the way to a low carbon future that includes large wind farms, more efficient heating systems and electric vehicles.

The government said smart meters, which provide real-time information to consumers about energy usage, and smart grids, which give real-time data about power demand and generation across the network, were integral for Britain to hit its carbon targets.

via Britain to shift to smart grid, meter systems | Green Business | Reuters.

Microsoft’s Hohm home energy platform will soon be able to deliver monthly energy use data for all of Xcel Energy’s 3.4 million customers across eight states, all without smart meters. The two companies plan to announce the news on Friday at an event at Microsoft’s campus in Fargo, N.D., a Microsoft spokesperson said Thursday.

Xcel is the second utility to link customer data to Hohm. Last month, Seattle City Light started offering its roughly one million customers a data feed of their utility bill information via the web platform.

via Greentech Media: Microsoft Hohm: First Seattle City Light, Now Xcel Energy | Green Light.

Do you know what energy tariff you are on? Chances are you don’t as it has been reported that 82 percent of energy consumers have no idea about what tariff they have. With the new energy saving technology of smart meters, there is a strong push to have usage visually displayed for the consumer.

With these new smart meters being disbursed across Britain it only makes sense that displaying energy use for every user can help in the push for saving energy. Instead of people having to pay for their estimated use of energy, now they will be able to pay only for energy that has been used.

It only makes sense that these meters should be universally designed, but as of now the utility companies are still not sure if these new meters will be supplied with a visual display or not. This could lead to an inconsistent basic package for utility customers, meaning some will have visual display meters and others will not.

via Should there be displays on UK smart meters?.