FREE Webcast: Enabling the Home Area Network

Join Parks Associates and the Z-Wave Alliance on Thursday, February 17th at 2 pm CENTRAL for the webcast, Enabling the Home Area Network: Solutions that work for Consumers and Utilities, and learn about the market outlook for residential energy management (REM) products and services.

Parks Associates research finds:
-- By 2015, less than 5% of U.S. households will have a utility-based home area network (HAN).
-- By 2022, that number will grow to almost 40%.

Registration:
http://www.parksassociates.com/events/webcasts/2011/webcasts_sigma.htm

Presenters include:
-- Bill Ablondi, Director, Home Systems Research, Parks Associates
-- Dan Goodman, CTO, Radio Thermostat Company of America
-- Letha McLaren, Vice President of Product Management, iControl Networks
-- Steve Samolinski, Director of Solution Management, Connected Home Solutions, Ingersoll Rand

The interactive panel discussion includes industry executives from leading-edge companies and utilities as they examine the latest innovative solutions and share their perspectives on the key trends and opportunities in 2011. Attendees will learn what to watch in 2011 and what to expect from both consumers and business as this growing market continues to expand into the home.

Companies have new focus on managing consumers’ electricity usage

Today there are 1.9 million homes with energy management networks. We are entering a period of pervasive growth. … We estimate there will be 16.2 million by 2015.

Parks Associates hosted the Smart Energy Summit in Austin last week. It focused on ways to find customers for such services. The three-day affair showed enthusiasm is high among corporations and entrepreneurs, who sense an emerging market. Parks Associates' Director of Research, Bill Ablondi said there were about 75 companies in the market last year, but now there are as many as 250, including such big names as GE, Intel, Verizon and AT&T.

Consumers, however, remain largely in the dark about the possibilities. Smart grid technologies promise to provide big gains in efficiency for electricity generators, transmitters and consumers. That means cost savings, less pollution and fewer power plants.

Integrating information technology into the electric power grid should also make it far easier to connect renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.

The technologies should also make it possible to manage a fleet of electric cars so that they can be fueled without putting crushing demands on the system and double as available storage devices for power when parked.

But with electricity prices flat or falling (they were down 11.5 percent last year in Dallas), consumers are not motivated to jump in.

Oncor and other Texas electricity transmission companies have installed more than 3 million smart meters across the state under a mandate from the state government. The meters are providing an ocean of data to the utilities about electricity consumption, but consumers have seen little advantage.

Reliant and TXU Energy can also use the smart meter data to send e-mail alerts to consumers when their electricity usage starts to balloon, along with recommendations on ways to conserve.

A thermostat equipped with wireless radio communications, however, can be configured remotely. TXU Energy offers thermostats that can be programmed from a smart phone.

Parks Associates said energy management systems independent of smart meters would outsell the utility plans for several more years. He estimated that wireless thermostats would grow into a $1.1 billion market by 2015, and that remote-control lighting systems would equal that market.

Speaker after speaker at the conference said the key to this market, however, is raising consumer awareness of the cost savings such systems can bring — without sacrificing comfort or demanding a lot of skill.

To view the full Dallas Morning News Article, click here.

Sponsors for three-day Energy Summit represent market diversity as cloud-based services expand energy management field

Consumer interest in energy-saving solutions will help push the number of households with remote monitoring and control to over 14 million by 2015, with security system and broadband service providers joining utilities in this market.

Parks Associates, a leader in the consumer energy market research space, will host the 2nd Annual Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer, in Austin, January 24-26, which will feature a diverse list of utilities, solution developers, and technology companies as sponsors.

AlertMe provides simple and affordable home energy management and connected home services directly to consumers and through channel partners.

Broadcom Corporation is a major technology innovator and global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications.

Direct Energy is one of North America’s largest energy and energy-related services providers with over 6 million residential and commercial customer relationships.

DMN3 is a marketing firm founded in 1992 and delivers value to clients by focusing on three industries -- energy, financial and healthcare.

ecobee delivers intelligent conservation solutions for real people. The company is building its product platform around The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System.

The GreenWave Reality platform creates smart energy- efficient homes through the monitoring and controlling of devices. This system benefits both utilities and consumers.

HomeGrid Forum is a global, non-profit trade group promoting the International Telecommunication Union’s G.hn standardization efforts for next-generation wired home networking and Smart Grid applications.

The HomePlug Powerline Alliance is the leading industry association for powerline networking with more than 70 member companies and more than 200 HomePlug-certified devices.

Ingersoll Rand Residential Solutions, a business comprised of well-known brands like Schlage and Trane, delivers safety, comfort and efficiency to homeowners throughout North America.

Motorola Mobility now offers the 4Home software platform, an exciting new way to expand your service offerings for Home Control, Home and Health Monitoring and Energy Management.

NextEnergy is a solar PV contractor with over 30 years experience demonstrating innovation in home energy management.

Panamax/Furman’s BlueBOLT® technology provides an integrated hardware/cloud-based software solution for power and energy management of home electronics.

Reliant Energy provides electricity and energy services to more than 1.5 million retail customers—including homes, small and large businesses, manufacturing facilities, government entities and institutions across Texas.

The Z-Wave Alliance is an open consortium of over 160 industry-leading manufacturers who create products and services to provide advanced yet practical solutions for energy savings, comfort and convenience, safety and security in the residential market based on Z-Wave, the standard in wireless home control.

Visit www.smartenergysummit2011.com for information.

Smart Energy Summit features executive session with CEDIA, GE, and Broadcom

Parks Associates will host Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer on January 24-26, 2011, in Austin, Texas, which will feature the session "Opportunities beyond the HAN" to discuss new opportunities for energy-related solutions, including smart appliances and electric vehicles.

While consumer awareness of smart grids remains low, U.S. households are still taking energy-saving actions themselves, with roughly 80% making energy-related improvements in their home. Parks Associates also reports perceptions of energy-efficient solutions are expanding, with consumers showing near equal interest in lifestyle enhancements as well as cost savings in motivating these changes.

"Opportunities beyond the HAN," 1:45 p.m. on January 26, will feature the following speakers:

• Utz Baldwin, CEO, CEDIA

• Andy Melder, Powerline Marketing, Broadcom

• JT Thompson, Utility Sales Leader, GE Appliances and Lighting
  

Parks Associates reports only 12% of U.S. consumers have strong familiarity with the term smart grid, essentially unchanged from 11% in 2009, indicating utilities and companies providing utility-related solutions must invest in education and marketing to capture consumer interest.

Energy management session featuring Verizon, Direct Energy, Reliant Energy, and PG&E at Smart Energy Summit 2011

Executives from Verizon, Direct Energy, Reliant Energy, and PG&E will examine the new competitive market for residential energy management in the special session "Energy as a Service" on January 25 at Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer.

Regulatory changes and technology advancements, including the proliferation of broadband, are adding a competitive dimension to the energy business. Electricity providers can supplement their power offerings with monitoring and management services, but other players, including communications service providers, are looking to enter the consumer energy management market. We predict adoption of non-utility residential energy management solutions, including systems from firms such as AlertMe, Control4, and HAI and services from providers such as Verizon and Comcast, will grow more quickly over the next five years.

Confirmed speakers for the "Energy as a Service" session:

• Eric Bruno, SVP, Consumer Product Management & Development, Verizon

• Christopher Deutschen, Senior Manager, Direct Energy

• Brent Hodges, Director, Smart Energy Partnerships, Reliant Energy

• Steve Malnight, VP, Integrated Demand Side Management, PG&E

Smart Energy Summit includes interactive panels and presentations focused on strategies for manufacturers, utilities, and other service providers to demonstrate the value proposition of new energy management products, services, and standards. The agenda includes keynote speakers from IBM, Grid Net, and the U.S. Department of Commerce.

For more information, visit www.smartenergysummit2011.com .

No one said it was going to be easy

The smart grid is fast becoming a reality. The U.S. power grid is aging and is in need of an upgrade. Smart meters are being installed on residences across the U.S. as part of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) deployments. Pilot programs testing a variety of residential energy management programs are well underway, including the latest from CPS Energy in San Antonio, TX. As part of the pilot program, 40,000 residential customers will receive smart meters. Over the next 10 years, more changes and developments will take place on the grid than they have over the last 100 years. However, it is not going to be easy.

The smart grid has benefits for all involved; however, failure to convey the benefits has become a major challenge. Utilities like the idea of cutting labor costs and being able to manage electricity usage more efficiently; environmentalists want to integrate renewables onto the grid; manufacturers want to sell appliances and consumers want to cut expenditures on electricity. These are all different goals and not necessarily compatible in every respect. For instance, some utilities are developing the capability to shed load by remotely adjusting consumers’ thermostats or appliances. This helps them avoid paying premium prices for power during times of peak usage, but not all consumers want to participate in these programs. Parks Associates 2010 Residential Energy Management Survey shows that about a third of households don’t mind utilities controlling systems in their homes; on the other hand, 40% of households don’t like the idea.

Another hurdle is lack of communication. Utilities are accustomed to acting unilaterally once public utility commissions approve a program. Many didn’t place a priority on customer education. This has changed significantly and utilities are taking an active role in building stronger relations with their customers. Both California-based Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and Dallas- based Oncor have established C-level positions, Chief Customer Officer (CCO), to build stronger relationships with the customers. The CCOs and their staff are responsible for addressing customer concerns answering billing inquires and educating customers about the benefits of smart meters and more.

Not being easy doesn’t mean impossible. Meter data management firm eMeter’s Chief Regulatory Officer, Chris King, briefed congress in July, 2010, on the results of the PowerCentsDC smart grid pilot program in Washington, DC. Conducted in collaboration with DC utility PEPCO, King reported that the overall results of the pilot were very positive, “Over the course of the pilot, 90 percent of customers saved money -- an average of $44 per year -- and more than 90 percent said they would recommend the program to friends and family.”

Parks Associates’ 2^nd Annual Smart Energy Summit in Austin, TX on January 24th-26^th, 2011 will provide utilities and other interested parties a forum to share and discuss these initiatives as well as other lessons learned with an eye to identifying additional ways to engage in energy conservation and management programs.

Investments supporting smart grid innovations

Investments in the smart grid and related technologies continue to grow. The latest was made last week by General Electric which announced the first round of winners of the GE ecomagination Challenge: Powering the Grid. The competition was launched in August, 2010 and is co-funded by venture capital firms Emerald Technology Ventures, Foundation Capital, KPCB and Rockport Capital. 3,500 applications from 150 countries were received by GE for the $200 million prize pot.

Last week’s announcement showed GE’s strong interest in supporting solar, EV charging stations, energy management software and grid optimization projects. $55 million have been awarded as part of the first round; GE plans to make more rounds of investments over the next 18 months. Included in the list of winners is North Carolina based Consert, which Parks Associates has profiled in our Residential Energy Management: Company, Alliance & Technology Profiles report and will also be covered in our latest Home Area Networks (HAN): Analysis & Forecast 2010 report scheduled to be published by the end of this month. According to the press release from GE, Consert’s load curtailment technology helps increase operations efficiency and act as a virtual power plant. The product complements GE Digital Energy’s existing solutions to meet the unique needs of these market segments.

Besides supporting the firms financially, GE will provide winners access to its engineers and sales staff. The fact that GE is also developing energy management technology in-house, such as the GE Nucleus, and investing in competing technologies along with other cleantech ventures, it is clear that GE wants to be involved in all facets of the new and improved power grid.

The government and academia have also continued their financial support for the smart grid with the DOE announcing investments of $19 million in five smart grid projects and Stanford University’s TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy launching a $1.2 million fund for researchers focused on smart grid related studies. Investments in consumer focused solutions are still taking a backseat to grid and renewable energy related investments, but we expect this to change over the next 4-5 years. Based on our forecast, by the end of 2014 approximately 9 million residential energy management systems will be in use in U.S. households. This fact, coupled with a growing interest among consumers to have better insight into their consumption, is attracting interest from all smart grid participants.

Sigma Designs sponsors Smart Energy Summit 2011

Parks Associate is proud to welcome Sigma Designs as a Premier sponsor for the upcoming Smart Energy Summit in Austin.

Sigma Designs is a leading fabless provider of highly integrated SoC solutions that are used to deliver multimedia entertainment throughout the home. Sigma’s SoC solutions include media processors, home control and communication devices which combine semiconductors and software as critical components of high-growth consumer applications including IPTV-based settop boxes, gateways, Blu-ray players, HDTVs, entertainment connectivity devices, and RFbased home control devices.

Headquartered in Milpitas, Calif., Sigma Designs also has design centers or sales representatives in Canada, China, Denmark, France, Israel, Japan, Korea (third party), Singapore, and Taiwan.

For more information, please visit www.sigmadesigns.com.

ecobee sponsors Smart Energy Summit 2011

Parks Associates is proud to welcome ecobee as a 2011 sponsor for the Smart Energy Summit in Austin, Texas from January 24-26, 2011.

ecobee helps homeowners conserve energy, save money and reduce their environmental impact. The green automation platform sits at the convergence of energy conservation, green technology, the networked home and consumer electronics. Their products automate energy conservation making it easier to save on energy costs without sacrificing comfort.

ecobee is part of an international ground swell empowered by the realization that we need to take action on the environment, and the time to take that action is now. Their products and services are developed with care, innovation and attention to detail. They have a real and meaningful impact on our customers and the communities they live in.

For more information about ecobee, visit: http://www.ecobee.com/

HomePlug Powerline Alliance Becomes The Newest Sponsor Of The Smart Energy Summit 2011

Parks Associates welcome HomePlug Powerline Alliance, a company that enables and promotes rapid availability, adoption and implementation of cost effective, interoperable and standards-based home powerline networks and products, as the newest sponsor for the 2011 Smart Energy Summit in Austin.

Founded in 2000, the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, Inc. is an industry-led initiative with 70 member companies that creates specifications and certification logo programs for using the power lines for reliable home networking and Smart Grid applications.

The Alliance accelerates worldwide adoption for HomePlug technology by collaborating with international standards organizations such as the IEEE and through market development and user education programs. Sponsor members include Atheros Communications (ATHR); Cisco (CSCO); Comcast (CMCSK); Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK); GE Energy, an affiliate of General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE); Gigle Networks; Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723); SPiDCOM Technologies; and STMicroelectronics (STM). Contributor members include Arkados (OTCBB: AKDS) and Corporate Systems Engineering.

For more information, visit www.homeplug.org.

We thank you for your continued support!