Smart Meters Hit a Bump in the Road

As you may know, smart meters offer access to real-time information about electric energy consumption. They also provide electric utility companies with more detailed information about how much electricity is being used in their service areas. You can find a good explanation of how smart meters work in a residential setting at SmartGrid.Gov.

Even though Energy Secretary Chu recently announced that more than five million smart meters have been installed nationwide as part of Recovery Act-funded efforts to accelerate modernization of the Nation’s electric grid, it appears that smart meters are not getting enough traction for some service  providers. Google recently announced that it will discontinue PowerMeter and Microsoft is pulling the plug on its Hohm energy management platform. Both companies expressed disappointment in the slow overall market adoption of the services. However, smart metering, according to Google, is picking up steam. So why are these two IT powerhouses cutting their smart meter programs?

A recent report by the United Kingdom National Audit Office indicates that product risks such as “…design approvals, procurement,  testing taking longer than planned, and the need of the system to be flexible enough to minimize the risk of future obsolescence” are key issues to the success of smart grid products and services.  And according to Adrian Tuck, CEO of the smart grid technology company Tendril, “energy management vendors need to enable the utilities and not circumvent them to be successful.” Two examples of energy utilities employing smart meter technologies are Florida Power and Light Company in Miami, FL and CenterPoint Energy Houston Electrics in Houston, TX.

Smart meters are an important part of the success of smart grids so hopefully the pieces will continue to fall into place.

Do you or your business use Hohm or PowerMeter (or another smart meter technology)?  Let us know your opinion on the discontinuation of these services.  And share your experience if you’ve employed smart meter technology.