PSFK posts today on Google’s Power Meter initiative.
It’s a fabulous idea, to be sure: Allow anyone with a smart meter to plug into the Google application and retrieve a visualization of their actual power usage, thus enabling users to make informed decisions about their power consumption, and ultimately cut down on both usage and costs by making small lifestyle and routine changes.
The catch: most US homes do not have ’smart meters’ – and those that do provide valuable information to the energy supplier, but not the consumer. Per Google:
Unfortunately, many of today’s smart meters don’t display information to the consumer. We consider this unacceptable. We believe that detailed data on your personal energy use belongs to you, and should be available in a standard, non-proprietary format. You should control who gets to see it, and you should be free to choose from a wide range of services to help you understand it and benefit from it.
With 40 million US households scheduled to have these meters installed over the next 36 months, Google’s timing is fabulous (some would say ‘opportunistic’, of course, although this particular bit of utility is scarcely the face of malevolence).
It’s a great example of Google implementing what Ben Palmer calls ‘Branded Utility’ (click here for Ben’s 2006 interview on the subject, also from PSFK). The brands’ sincerety seems to be on display here, as well – a partnership with GE called ‘Plug in to the Smart Grid’.
All told, nothing earth-shattering (although perhaps ‘earth saving’) – another example, though, of the kinds of small change that both foster goodwill and improve our individual circumstances.
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