Entergy Selects Sensus Technologies for Home Area Network Pilot

Entergy New Orleans, Inc. has selected Sensus to provide its FlexNet™ Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system, electric AMI meters, in-home displays and programmable thermostats to support a Home Area Networking pilot program. The pilot program is partially funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, and is designed to encourage energy conservation by providing information to consumers about their electricity usage and their associated costs.

Starting in June, for a period of 24 months, Entergy New Orleans will track and analyze the consumption behaviors of four specific customer control groups within the city of New Orleans. Customers in the first group will receive a smart meter; the second group will receive a smart meter and an in-home display; the third group will receive a smart meter and programmable thermostat, and they will also be offered a rebate if they participate in a program to minimize their air conditioning usage during summer peak periods; and the fourth group will have access to an Internet portal that will show close to real-time information about electricity usage and associated costs.

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Intwine Energy Expands WiFi Thermostat Retail Presence Through Partnership With Smarthome

Intwine Energy, a leader in the development of Internet connected smart-grid products for both utilities and retail customers, announced a partnership with Smarthome, one of the world's largest online retailers of home automation products. The first in a series of Intwine products to be sold via Smarthome is the Intwine WiFi Thermostat. Other Intwine products will soon be added as they become publicly available.

The Intwine WiFi Thermostat enables residents to remotely monitor and control all home energy usage via a WiFi connection. It will display historical data/trends on past energy usage for both individual devices as well as for the entire home.

Future products in the Intwine Energy roadmap include a whole-house power monitor and smart plugs which will be components of Intwine's Solution Suite, an integrated end-to-end system that empowers homeowners to monitor and control their household energy use. The end result is lower energy usage and cost as well the ability to integrate energy usage into personal lifestyles.

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IBM Teams With Hildebrand to Bring Smart Metering to Homes Across Britain

IBM announced it is teaming with energy consultant Hildebrand to help consumers make more informed decisions about their energy consumption with IBM data management software. As part of this effort, citizens and companies are working together to make more efficient use of energy by collecting, storing and analyzing detailed energy usage information in real time from homes across the UK.

The Hildebrand monitoring system enables real-time analysis of electricity usage for households, or even for individual appliances, to help people make better decisions about energy efficiency in the home and minimize their environmental impact.

The Hildebrand project involves installing small, low-cost energy monitoring devices at groups of homes in five European cities: Birmingham, Bristol and Manchester in the UK, and Plovdiv and Ivanovo in Bulgaria. Each of these groups form a 'living lab,' giving the researchers access to real-world energy usage data, and allowing them to study the behavior of individuals and their attitudes towards energy management.

Homeowners can access this information online in a simple format that displays their electricity usage and perform analytics, such as calculating costs against the users' electricity tariff, or comparing their usage to the average for their group. The end result is that people can make more informed decisions about energy management and change their behavior in order to reduce electricity bills and minimize their environmental impact.

For more information about IBM's smart grid initiative, go to http://www.ibm.com/energy.