A smart grid is a transactive grid.
- Lynne Kiesling
Author Archive

Weakness of Social Comparison Messages: “Oh No, Opower”

A very interesting National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Working Paper was published recently, titled USING NON-PECUNIARY STRATEGIES TO INFLUENCE BEHAVIOR: EVIDENCE FROM A LARGE SCALE FIELD EXPERIMENT, which  investigated the effectiveness of policy measures based on information transfers and pro-social messages in a large-scale, natural field experiment carried out in conjunction with Cobb County, […]

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Americans Not Making Great Progress on Home Energy Efficiency Improvements: Monthly Bills Would Need To Increase > $100 Before Changing Behavior

Via Treehugger, an interesting report on how Americans are not making great progress on home energy efficiency improvements.  As frequent visitors to this blog know, we believe that this has everything to do with motivation and incentive, namely the opportunity to utilize a transactive grid to turn behavioral changes into real currency versus simply providing […]

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The Electric Utility’s Consumption Conundrum

Via Smart Grid Library, an interesting article on paradox of conservation and the drive for utilities to adopt new business models.  As the report notes: Every business wants to grow the sales of their product or service – telecom carriers want you to consume more minutes of smart phone use, restaurants want you to eat […]

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Smart Energy Consumer Behavioral Segmentation Study

Noticed an interesting press release today regarding a new Smart Energy Consumer Behavioral Segmentation study prepared by  J.D. Power and Associates. While not yet seen the report itself, I am intrigued by the segment of those surveyed that want the opportunity to earn points for reducing energy use and to redeem their points for cash […]

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Google and Microsoft Quietly Exit: Energy Efficiency vs. The Hassle Factor

Via MasterResource, an interesting article on the current crop of demand response strategies and tools, an era of “electronic nagging”.  How about smart markets with transactive capabilities that motivate people to behave with the one item that most frequently causes behavioral change – money – instead? “I have never known much good done by those […]

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The eBay of Electricity: Shopping For Power 2.0

Via Forbes, an interesting article offering one potential view on the future of power retailing: “…When Jan Adams got a NZ $300 (US $247) power bill back in April 2009 she could not believe it.  A tiny one-bedroom flat could not possibly consume that much electricity. New Zealand has a competitive electricity market but shifting […]

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About This Blog And Its Authors
Grid Unlocked is powered by two eco-preneurs who analyze and reference articles, reports, and interviews that can help unlock the nascent, complex and expanding linkages between smart meters, smart grids, and above all: smart markets.

Based on decades of experience and interest in conservation, Monty Simus believes that a truly “smart” grid must be a “transactive” grid, unshackled from its current status as a so-called “natural monopoly.”

In short, an unlocked grid must adopt and harness the power of markets to incentivize individual users, linked to each other on a large scale, who change consumptive behavior in creative ways that drive efficiency and bring equity to use of the planet's finite and increasingly scarce resources.