Tag Archives: Smart grid

February 21, 2011 · 9:08 pm

Consumers Say Smart Meters Produce Modest Behavior Changes

Here’s a factoid about the impact of smart meters on consumer behavior.

There is ample evidence that consumers who have clear and current information about their energy usage tend to use energy more efficiently. But behavior changes tend to be modest, according to a recent survey we conducted of smart meter consumers (those with smart meters installed at their homes).

Question: How has your behavior as it relates to power usage changed since your smart meter was installed? (Please select all that apply.) Source: Green Research/e-Rewards Consumer Survey (8/10), n=1007 (US only)

In the survey, a majority said their behavior hadn’t changed much since their smart meter had been installed, while about a quarter cited some efforts to conserve energy more and to monitor their usage more frequently. About a quarter of respondents had had their smart meter for less than three months and another quarter had it installed between three and 6 months earlier. The survey data shows some increased tendency to engage in these behaviors among those who have had their smart meters longer, so there is a possibility that these conservation behaviors will tend to become more prevalent over time.

Have any related data to share? Please leave a comment.

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December 15, 2010 · 7:58 pm

Cleantech Research Roundup, December 2010

Here’s a list of recent research published by leading cleantech research firms, along with brief blurb about the reports written by the firms themselves. If you use other sources for cleantech market research, please let me know. I would like to include them in my list in the future.

US Geothermal Market Consolidates To Capture Potential
IHS Emerging Energy Research, December 3, 2010

After nearly two decades of stagnant growth, the US geothermal industry remains on an upswing despite facing a temporary set back to growth in 2011. Key findings in this Market Brief include the following:

  • Despite weak market conditions for renewable power, the geothermal project pipeline has continued to expand
  • Experienced geothermal players and foreign entrants led by Ormat, Ram Power, CalEnergy, Terra-Gen, and Enel are driving near-term industry growth
  • 1.4 GW of geothermal capacity will come online between 2010 and 2015

Transmission Clutch for US Wind Growth
IHS Emerging Energy Research, December 3, 2010

In this Market Brief, IHS EER examines over 20 transmission initiatives spanning the United States that will unlock significant wind potential. Key findings include:

  • The top US wind markets begin to feel pain of transmission congestion as wind generation is increasingly curtailed
  • State, regional, and private transmission proposals aim to create new wind cost allocation policies that are critical to the viability of many future wind-focused transmission lines
  • The federal government, utilities, and developers are becoming increasingly involved in transmission planning and development for wind-focused transmission lines

Enterprise LED Lighting: Commercial and Industrial Market Trends, Opportunities & Leading Companies
GTM Research, December 1, 2010

Since general illumination light emitting diodes (LEDs) were first introduced in 1997, the industry envisioned that LEDs with projected performance increases could someday completely replace traditional lighting systems. Today that possibility is very realistic thanks to the acceleration in LED performance over the past few years and a wave of new commercial, industrial and institutional LED fixtures that have hit the market. The US market for commercial and industrial LED lighting, for example, is forecasted to see $330 million of revenue in 2010, with potential to grow next year at over 30%, surpassing $1 billion in annual revenues by 2014. This growth will come from three emerging trends in the industry:

  • Recent LED chip performance advancements, which allow more cost effective designs for replacing existing lighting systems
  • Newly introduced utility energy efficiency financial incentives for converting to these LED-based systems
  • Increased interest from building owners in applying sustainably-oriented lighting retrofits that save money in operation

Technology Selection: Building the Technology Foundation for the VPP
IDC Energy Insights, December 2010

This IDC Energy Insights report examines what it will take for utilities to enable the virtual power plant (VPP). Guidance is provided on what utilities may already have in place, what needs to be modified, and what needs to be added. IDC Energy Insights is confident that the VPP will evolve and that utilities need to take VPP into consideration when approaching their business processes, enterprise architecture, and control systems.

According to IDC Energy Insights Analyst Jill Feblowitz, “Utilities will see the most innovation and development in the enterprise and real-time service bus, in analytics for pricing and resource optimization and, on the far horizon, in the decentralization of processing and optimization with the introduction of microgrids.”

The Smart Grid Utility Data Market
SBI Energy, Dec 1, 2010

The volume of Smart Grid data that will have to be managed by utilities over the next few years is going to surge from 10,780 terabytes (TB) of new data created in 2010 to over 75,200 TB in 2015. Managing, analyzing and visualizing that amount of data will be a huge undertaking, creating a global market worth $2.9 billion in 2015.

Microgrid System Revenues to Reach $1.7 Billion by 2016
Pike Research, December 2010

Microgrids offer a compelling alternative to traditional energy generation and distribution, utilizing smart grid technologies to enable integrated control of distributed power generation and energy storage assets either in parallel to or “islanded” from the utility power grid. According to a new report from Pike Research, there are more than 140 modern microgrid projects totaling over 1.1 gigawatts (GW) of capacity worldwide (and 1.8 GW if legacy petrochemical and university campus systems are included in the tally). The cleantech market intelligence firm forecasts that global revenue from microgrid systems will experience a 64% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next several years, increasing from just $144.2 million in 2011 to $1.7 billion by 2016, under a base case forecast scenario. Under a more aggressive forecast scenario that assumes the alignment of regulatory structures, industry priorities, and public policy supports, microgrid revenues could surpass $3 billion during the same period.

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December 2, 2009 · 2:33 am

Marketing Home Energy Management Without Utilities

After completing a study of the home energy management market I spoke last week with a strategy guy at large consumer electronics manufacturer. The company is looking at the home energy management market and evaluating various product and market entry strategies.

Many of the vendors of in-home energy displays are focused on working with utilities. Utilities have the customer relationships. In many cases utilities now have money to spend on in-home displays (a million of them in the U.S. according to the recent federal Smart Grid awards). And many have powerful motives to promote the adoption of energy information displays, ranging from fostering energy conservation, greasing the wheels for demand response programs, and dressing up smart grid investments with something the rate payer can see and touch.

Is there a path to market that bypasses the utilities and speaks directly to consumers? This is one of the questions my new strategist friend is looking at. It’s an interesting one, and one that Google raised when it announced that, along with trying to sign up utilities to share customer consumption data through its PowerMeter application, it is partnering with device makers like Energy, Inc. to capture and report on home energy use without the involvement of the utilities at all.

Perhaps consumers don’t trust utilities to help them manager their energy consumption. It is noteworthy that, according to a Pike Research report earlier this year (subscription required), some 30% of U.S. consumers were uninterested in demand response programs because of the “‘big brother’ aspect” and another 12% “don’t trust the electric company.”

Still, I think utilities are the key to the development of the market for energy information displays over the next 3 to 5 years (even though longer term I believe a consumer market for the devices will develop). And I suspect, based on the data I have, that the segment of consumers that would be motivated by distrust of their utility to buy an energy information device to be relatively small.

According to the Pike study, for instance, of those interested in energy information displays, over 80 percent said they would consider using their electric utility as a provider of energy management services that included one. An IBM study last year of consumer attitudes about energy consumption suggested that nearly 70 percent of consumers would be interested in a “participatory network” in which they share responsibility for energy management with utilities.

Utilities have an opportunity and an imperative over the next few years. They must convey to their customers the benefits of getting more engaged in their own energy managaement. And they must develop a more dynamic relationship with their customers. But utilities have their work cut out for them. Both the IBM study and a Gartner study released over the summer suggested that utilities have room for improvement in how they market new energy programs such as those relating to energy efficiency or green power: awareness and uptake of existing programs remain low in many cases.

So my sense is that this consumer electronics company may well be able to out-market the utilities, but would have little success building a market based on of distrust of them. A promising path forward might include a co-marketing arrangement, which could give the utilities a needed boost in their communication skills.

What are your thoughts?

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August 6, 2009 · 10:05 pm

Reading on Smart Grid

Greentech Media’s research group recently released a free 145-report on smart grid. If you are new to smart grid, it’s a good tutorial on the issues. It features a helpful taxonomy [] of building blocks of the smart grid.

And it’s a handy reference guide to the vendors with profiles on over thirty companies that are active in this area.

The report provides an overview of dozens of issues in this area, but one that stands out for me is the persistent challenge of crafting a business model that appropriately compensates all participants in the energy ecosystem for energy conservation. The report cites demand-response vendors Comverge and EnerNoc, who are building a business out of reducing energy demand. But it appears that most utilities still don’t have an investment framework that will support investments in efficiency.

And if you want to see latest exploration of smart grid, have a look at this post. And if you know of good material on this topic, consider leaving a pointer to it as a comment.

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