Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative Grows to 50 Members

Five new members of the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative (SGCC) put the nonprofit over its goal of fifty members in its first year. The group, which last week announced its first permanent executive director in Patty Durand, continues to gain momentum with these new members:

•San Diego Gas & Electric is one of the nation’s largest public electric utilities.

•The Alliance to Save Energy, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Green DMV, and the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance are environmental and consumer advocacy groups.

•Vertex Business Services is a business process outsourcing and IT services company which promotes improved customer experience.

The SGCC is a consumer focused non-profit organization aiming to promote the understanding and benefits of modernized electrical systems among all stakeholders in the United States. Membership is open to all consumer and environmental advocates, technology vendors, research scientists, and electric utilities for sharing in research, best practices, and collaborative efforts of the group.

For the complete article, please click here.

New consumer research at Smart Energy Summit Workshop, including panel discussion with Austin Energy, TXU, Motorola Mobility, and Ingersoll Rand

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, 2011, to analyze the growing energy management market.

Utilities will be slow to ramp up their home area network efforts, reaching a mere 5% of U.S. homes by 2015, but they will deploy rapidly beyond that point, reaching nearly 40% by 2022. The energy management market will encompass a unique blend of utility deployments and independent solutions from a variety of players, and we look forward to hosting over 150 industry leaders at Smart Energy Summit to discuss new strategies and opportunities.

Parks Associates will present new research findings and strategic recommendations at a half-day workshop prior to the Summit, Monday, January 24. The workshop, “Energy: Consumer Demand and New Business Models,” will include an interactive session "Emerging Business Models – Alternative Approaches," with panelists from Austin Energy, TXU Energy, Motorola Mobility, and Ingersoll Rand.

The Smart Energy Summit features an incredible line-up of speakers, including keynotes from Grid Net, IBM, and NIST, who provide research, business, and regulatory expertise in analyzing the benefits of smart grid technologies and key strategies to engage consumers.

Smart Energy Summit is the premier event examining business opportunities and technical challenges as smart grid technologies move into the home.

Visit www.smartenergysummit2011.com for more information.

Control4 and Silver Spring Networks Announce Strategic Reseller Agreement

Control4, a leader in affordable IP-based home control systems, announced the signing of a strategic reselling agreement with Silver Spring Networks, a leading Smart Grid solutions provider. Together, they now offer a Home Area Network (HAN) solution interoperable with utility Smart Grid and Demand Response systems.

By offering the Control4® Energy Management System (EMS) 100, Silver Spring extends its Demand Response solution to deliver an engaging in-home experience, exchanging up-to-the minute consumption data between customer and utility and providing intelligent automation and control of smart devices throughout the house. The combined solution incorporates Silver Spring’s Advanced Metering, UtilityIQ and CustomerIQ applications with Control4® ADVANTAGE software, Control4® EC-100 Energy Controllers, and Control4® WT-100 wireless programmable thermostats, providing a comprehensive solution set for utilities of all sizes.

The EC-100 is one of the several ways that Control4 addresses energy management in the home. Control4’s energy solutions span from energy management applications in the 4Store to utility driven deployments of the EC-100, offering consumers a variety of cost effective, energy saving options.

For the complete article, please click here.

Smart Energy Summit examines opportunities in energy management for utilities, service and security providers, retailers, and CE manufacturers

Parks Associates announced the list of speakers for its upcoming Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer, January 24-26, Austin, Texas.

Parks Associates will also host a special pre-show workshop on January 24, Energy: Consumer Demand and New Business Models, which will feature a special speaker session "Emerging Business Models – Alternative Approaches."

John Heflin Baker, Jr., Chief Strategy Officer, Austin Energy

Utz Baldwin, CEO, CEDIA

David Bercovich, Vice President, Business Development, AlertMe

Kris Bowring, Sr. Director, Emerging Business, Best Buy

Eric Bruno, Senior Vice President Consumer Product Management & Development, Verizon

Scott Burns, Manager, Smart Energy Product Management, Reliant Energy

Colin Calder, CEO, PassivSystems

Gavin Cato, Director of Strategic Alliances, Elster Solutions

Al Choperena, President, SimpleHomeNet, Inc.

Brian Dawson, CEO, Calico Energy

Christopher Deutschen, Senior Manager, Direct Energy

Greg Ennis, Technical Director, Wi-Fi Alliance

Sheri Givens, Public Counsel, Texas Office of Public Utility Counsel

Chano Gomez, Director of Business Development, Lantiq North America, Inc representing Homegrid Forum

David Hennekes, Vice President, Residential Markets, TXU Energy

Randy Kauffman, President, NextEnergy

Mark Komanecky, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Eragy

John Lacour, COO, DMN3

Stuart Lombard, President and CEO, ecobee

Steve Malnight, Vice President of Integrated Demand Side Management, PG&E

Andy Melder, Powerline Marketing, Broadcom

Greg Memo, CEO, GreenWave Reality

Bill Muston, Manager, Research & Development, Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC

Ivan O'Neill, Strategic Alliance Manager, Southern California Edison

Roy Perry, Director, Technology Integration, CableLabs

Rob Ranck, President, HomePlug Powerline Alliance

Steve Samolinski, Director of Solution Management for Connected Home Solutions, Ingersoll Rand

Bill Scheffler, Senior Director of North American Business Development, Z-Wave Alliance

JT Thompson, Utility Sales Leader, GE Appliances and Lighting

Kenneth Wacks, Member, GridWise Architecture Council, U.S. Department of Energy

Steve Widergren, Principal Engineer, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Visit www.smartenergysummit2011.com for information.

Manufacturers rev up interest in electric cars, but challenges remain

There's significant interest in all-electric vehicles among car buyers, but automakers have a few obstacles to navigate in order to satisfy consumers, according to an IBM study.

Nineteen percent of 1,716 U.S. drivers said they were likely or very likely to consider an all-electric vehicle for their next car. The average driving range per day is between 30 miles and 40 miles, which held true even in rural areas, said Kal Gyimesi, IBV automotive lead and co-author of the study. Thirty percent of people said that a 100-mile range, which is what many automakers are targeting, is sufficient.

Consumers are sensitive to purchase price and the price of gasoline, but the survey also found many were willing to pay more for a more environmentally friendly car. Forty percent said they would be willing to pay up to 20 percent more for an electric-only car.

Although there's a great deal of buzz around the Nissan Leaf and other plug-in cars coming to market, most analysts expect battery-electric cars to represent a small fraction of total auto sales in the next 10 years. Large batteries make EVs relatively expensive, although the cost per mile is cheaper. They also face ongoing competition from more fuel-efficient, gas-only vehicles or hybrids.

For the complete article, please click here.

Direct Energy Becomes the Newest Sponsor for Smart Energy Summit 2011

Parks Associates welcomes Direct Energy, the largest competitive retailer in North America of electricity and natural gas, home services, energy efficient solutions and more, as the newest sponsor for the 2011 Smart Energy Summit in Austin, Texas.

Direct Energy is one of North America’s largest competitive energy suppliers with approximately 6,000 employees. They are active in upstream production (electricity and natural gas) and downstream delivery. Direct Energy helps customers effectively manage all of their energy needs.

For more information about the company, visit http://www.directenergy.com/

We thank you for your continued support!

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.