March 16th, 2012
Courtesy of Miller-McCune, an article on software company Opower which thinks it can get consumers to use less electricity by instigating some friendly neighborhood competition. We have oft discussed our skepticism of the long-term fatigue effect of simple information sharing and peer group ranking but, to be fair to the overall smart grid debate, here [...]
Read more »How Utilities Can Gain Maximum Benefits From Consumer Data Analytics … Wait, What About The Consumer?
March 16th, 2012
Some interesting thoughts on via the Smart Grid Library on how utilities can benefit from consumer data analytics but – of most interest of all – is the fact that it is written from a utility perspective. Its focus is how utilities can benefit from analyzing consumer data – but wouldn’t a better mechanism be [...]
Read more »March 16th, 2012
Via Earthtechling, an interesting – but not unsurprising (at least to this blog’s authors) – report on the minimal impact that smart meter use has upon power savings. For without smart markets to actually give people a chance to see real price signals and make informed decisions about how to place value on behavioral changes, [...]
Read more »Currents To Currency: Tradable Personal Carbon Allowances In Smart Markets
February 16th, 2012
Two interesting articles on a proposed system of personal carbon allowances, which would give individuals an annually reducing carbon budget and they would be rewarded if they live within their budget by being able to trade surplus allowances. While we’re sanguine on the chances that this system will be deployed on a wide scale, we [...]
Read more »January 31st, 2012
Amidst a flurry of articles regarding Opower sending its 25M home energy report, I have a vexing question that is often overlooked: isn’t it true that fixing leaks/conserving water/getting smiley faces will not save you money, and may actually cost you more, in the long run since utilities needs to recoup their revenues based on [...]
Read more »Electricity: Use It and Lose It
January 7th, 2012
Via Greenbang, an interesting article on the paradox of energy efficiency – consumers are using less electricity than ever before but consumers are paying more for that success. It’s a strange thing to expect a business to try and sell less of what it traffics in, but that’s precisely what energy-efficiency standards focused on utilities [...]
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