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.

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.

For more information, click here.

New Residential Energy Management Whitepaper Available from CableLabs

Creating a Robust Market for Residential Energy Management through an Open Energy Management Architecture

Read more about CableLabs® ideas for public policy framework to advance the adoption of residential energy management.

Policies that allow and encourage innovative new solutions and stimulate new markets for residential energy management are largely missing from state and federal Smart Grid strategies.

Without an open market for residential energy management, there will be minimal private investment and new product development, leaving the promise of a ubiquitous national Smart Grid unrealized. Read More

White paper provided by CableLabs®. The views and opinions expressed in this white paper are from the author and not of Parks Associates.

Parks Associates hosting Residential Energy Management Webcast

Parks Associates is hosting a Residential Energy Management on Thursday, February 25th at 1 PM Central.

With the president’s stimulus bill squarely behind Smart Grid development, 2010 should see significant investment in new technologies from the back office to the network to the meter and to devices in the home. Will consumers pay to purchase devices with energy savings potential?

For more information, visit
http://www.parksassociates.com/events/webcasts.htm

Industry Leaders Converge at Parks Associates’ Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer

Parks Associates will host over 150 executives from leading utilities and companies active in energy management and smart infrastructure at next week’s Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer. The executive conference, hosted in cooperation with Austin Energy, will take place January 25-27 at the Hyatt Regency, Austin, Tex., and will focus on the consumer, distribution channels, and the opportunities and challenges in residential energy technologies.

Event sponsors include Cisco, Control4, Direct Energy, Exceptional Innovation, HAI Smartgrid Solutions, HomeGrid Forum, HomePlug Forum, iControl Networks, INSTEON, Intamac Systems, ista, Lockheed Martin, OpenPeak Inc., People Power, RCS, Watteco, and Xanboo.

Keynote speakers at the conference are Andres Carvallo, CIO, Austin Energy; Dr. George W. Arnold, National Coordinator for Smart Grid Interoperability, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S. Department of Commerce; and Bob Heffron, Utility Market Manager, Verizon.

The conference features research from Parks Associates’ Residential Energy Management service, including data on consumer readiness to adopt new technologies and current usage of energy management tools.

For more information, visit www.smartenergysummit2010.com.

Parks Associates Research Findings

Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer examines the roadmap for the in-home energy management technology market, offering consumer and industry research and strategic insight. Parks Associates research finds:

· Over 80% of consumers are very interested in learning about how to cut their energy costs, but less than half want to learn more about smart grids.

· 80% to 85% of households are willing to pay $80 to $100 for cost saving equipment if they are guaranteed to save 10% to 30% off their monthly electricity bill.

· Only 15% to 20% of consumers are likely to sign up for time-of-use or demand response programs; 35% do not want utilities to control systems in their home no matter what the potential savings.

· Less than 5% of households have any type of electronic lighting system, but 55% are very interested in light dimming systems that can save them money.

View Agenda

Parks Associates welcomes HomeGrid Forum, Intamac, ista, People Power, and Watteco as sponsors of Smart Energy Summit

Leaders in smart grid and energy management announce support for event, January 25-27

Parks Associates today announced HomeGrid Forum, Intamac Systems, ista, People Power, and Watteco as the latest sponsors for Smart Energy Summit on January 25-27 at the Hyatt Regency, Austin, Tex. They join a growing list of sponsors including Direct Energy, Exceptional Innovation, HAI Smartgrid Solutions, iControl Networks, INSTEON, and OpenPeak Inc.

Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer, hosted by Parks Associates in cooperation with Austin Energy, focuses on the opportunities and challenges in residential energy technologies.

The conference features research from Parks Associates' Residential Energy Management project, which reports that almost one-third of all U.S. households recently purchased an energy-efficient appliance or CE system. For the majority, the main motivation for the purchase was to save money on electric bills. Only 11% purchased primarily because the device was environmentally friendly.

Other supporters include AltEnergyMag, CABA, CEDIA, Energy Priorities, Home Toys, Mercom Capital Group, PHOTON, Smart Grid Today, VB/Research, and WinSmartGrid.

For more information, visit www.smartenergysummit2010.com.

Pecan Street Project Director to discuss Austin’s smart-grid demonstration and Energy Internet project at Smart Energy Summit

Parks Associates announced the Smart Energy Summit will feature a special session focusing on the Pecan Street Project, with a presentation from the project’s executive director Brewster McCracken on January 27, 3:30 p.m. Mr. McCracken will discuss the activities of the Pecan Street Project, which was awarded $10.4 million in federal stimulus money in November 2009 for its proposed Energy Internet project.

Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer, hosted by Parks Associates in cooperation with Austin Energy on January 25-27 at the Hyatt Regency, Austin, Tex., focuses on the opportunities and challenges in residential energy technologies.

The Pecan Street Project in Austin, Texas, is a city-wide laboratory devoted to revolutionizing the delivery, use, and generation of energy. It provides a place where researchers and entrepreneurs can develop, test, and implement the urban power system of the future.

George Arnold, National Coordinator for Smart Grid Interoperability at NIST, to keynote Parks Associates’ Smart Energy Summit

Parks Associates announced today that George Arnold, National Coordinator for Smart Grid Interoperability, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S. Department of Commerce, will deliver the afternoon keynote “NIST Smart Grid Interoperability Standards and the Home Area Network” at Smart Energy Summit.

Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer, hosted by Parks Associates in cooperation with Austin Energy on January 25-27 at the Hyatt Regency, Austin, Tex., focuses on the opportunities and challenges in residential energy technologies and identifies business strategies for in-home energy monitoring and management systems.

Sessions will include research from Parks Associates’ Residential Energy Management project, which features nationwide consumer surveys and industry profiles to assess the market for energy-related digital systems and services. The most recent consumer survey reports 80-85% of U.S. households are willing to pay for in-home energy monitors if these solutions can lower their electric bills.

In his keynote on January 26, 1:45 p.m., Dr. Arnold will discuss the challenges that need to be addressed in developing the interface between the Smart Grid and the Home Area Network. NIST is coordinating the development of a robust, interoperable framework of technical standards that will help transform the nation’s electric infrastructure into an “energy internet.”

Dr. Arnold was appointed National Coordinator for Smart Grid Interoperability at the NIST in April 2009. He is responsible for leading the development of standards underpinning the nation’s Smart Grid. He joined NIST in September 2006 after a 33-year career in the telecommunications and information technology industry.

For the full press release, click here.

Parks Associates welcomes Smart Energy Summit Sponsors

Direct Energy, Exceptional Innovation, HAI, iControl Networks, INSTEON, and OpenPeak support industry event

Parks Associates today announced the early sponsors for Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer, hosted in cooperation with Austin Energy on January 25-27 at the Hyatt Regency, Austin, Tex. The conference focuses on the opportunities and challenges in residential energy technologies and identifies business strategies for in-home energy monitoring and management systems.

Direct Energy, Exceptional Innovation, HAI, iControl Networks, INSTEON, and OpenPeak are all early sponsors of the event.

Direct Energy is one of North America’s largest providers of energy and energy-related services. The company has over five million residential and commercial customer relationships, providing choice and support in managing their energy costs through innovative products and services.

Exceptional Innovation manufactures Life|ware®, enterprise software solutions designed to seamlessly connect data and devices for integrated automation and control. Life|ware’s Energy Management Solution provides an efficient, elegant approach to complete residential management, benefiting both energy consumers and utility providers alike.

HAI (Home Automation, Inc.) manufactures integrated automation and security products for residential and commercial use. Its solutions allow utilities to implement time-of-use rating structures, manage demand response during peak demand events, and send custom messages to customers.

iControl Networks, a leader in broadband home management, recently announced its ConnectedLife Energy Management solution enabling utilities and service providers to offer customers the ability to monitor, control and automate their energy usage via the web, mobile phone or touchscreen.

INSTEON is an award-winning home area networking (HAN) technology, currently in trials with four of the top 10 U.S. utilities. Its unique dual-band, mesh, wireless network makes it ultra-reliable and cost effective for energy management, demand response and load-shedding.

OpenPeak Inc. creates, designs, and develops innovative systems and devices that enable simple control of home energy usage, VoIP telephony, digital media, Internet content, and consumer electronics on a single touchscreen device.

Other supporters include AltEnergyMag, CABA, CEDIA, Energy Priorities, Home Toys, Mercom Capital Group, Smart Grid Today, VB/Research, and WinSmartGrid.

For more information, visit www.smartenergysummit2010.com.

U.S. Department of Commerce, Austin Energy to keynote Smart Energy Summit

International research firm Parks Associates announced executives from Austin Energy and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will keynote the Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer. The two keynotes provide unique perspectives from business and governmental sides of the residential energy management (REM) industry, offering expert insight on successful deployment strategies and the impact of U.S. funding for smart grid projects.

Recently, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced over $3 billion in funding for smart grid projects, with matching private-sector funds pushing the total over $8 billion. This funding has implications for technology developers, utilities, and end users, and today there is the right mix of government incentive, competition, and societal pressure to make smart energy solutions viable.

Dr. George W. Arnold, National Coordinator for Smart Grid Interoperability, NIST, U.S. Department of Commerce, will be the luncheon keynote on Tuesday, January 26. He will provide insight into government initiatives for promoting smart grid projects.

Andres Carvallo, CIO, Austin Energy, will present the morning keynote “A New Journey: Utility 2.0” on January 26. He will share his vision of the utility of the future, informed by his company’s experiences developing and deploying its Smart Grid. Mr. Carvallo will also highlight new business models and technologies designed to transform consumers into “prosumers” - producers and consumers all in one.

For more information, visit www.energysmartsummit2010.com

INSTEON sponsors SMART Energy Summit 2010

Parks Associates and the SMART Energy Summit welcomes INSTEON as a new 2010 sponsor.

INSTEON is a proven, award-winning home area networking (HAN) technology that is currently in trials with 4 of the top 10 U.S. utilities, serving over 10 million customers. INSTEON has been used in homes since 2005 and has a record of over 28 billion successful messages. Its unique dual-band (radio frequency and powerline), mesh, wireless network makes it ultra-reliable. Its innovative simulcast design allows it to be the most cost-effective HAN available. INSTEON enables energy management, demand response, scheduled load-shedding, real-time email reporting and alerts, daylight harvesting and automated control or response. With over 100 INSTEON products selling in the marketplace – all of which are completely backwards and forwards compatible - INSTEON is the proven HAN solution.

For more information, visit www.insteonsmartgrid.com.