Utilities need to go beyond the smart meter and use a range of
energy-feedback tools to achieve significant reductions in
customers’ power consumption and their electricity bills, new
research shows. In a report released this week, the American
Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy estimates that U.S.
households could cut their electricity use by as much as 12
percent and save as much as $35 billion over the next 20 years.
That is if customers have context for the data that advanced
metering can provide, they are shown how they can slash their
power use and costs, and they are sufficiently motivated to
change. “The bottom line here is very simple: Smart meters in
and of themselves are just not ‘smart’ enough to get the job
done for consumers and our economy,” said John A. “Skip”
Laitner, the council’s director of Economic and Social Analysis.
“While advanced metering provides a useful tool to save energy,
cut consumer electric bills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions
from power plants, utilities need to us