Will Smart Grid and Smart Meter technology pay off?

Will smart grid & smart meter technology that allows home owners to watch energy usage fluctuate in nearly real time really help home owners consume less electricity?  I believe it will.  From a consumer's perspective the smart grid and smart meters will give them real time energy information so they can use energy more wisely. 

I've met with several homeowners who have solar power systems installed and with those systems came online access to view the energy production of the panels.  From what they tell me that alone has inspired them to use less energy.  To quote Andrew Kin, a home owner in LA, about how his solar array impacted his energy usage habits:

"The other, kind of unexpected thing that happens is we began to monitor how much electricity we were using through these real-time updates in a way we didn’t when we were just getting monthly bills.  And as a result we’ve been using a lot less electricity, driving our bills down even further.  "

So now imagine being able to see what percent of your electricity is from renewables (even your own solar panels) and how turning an appliance on or off impacts your electricity usage.  Combine that with displays about peak use hours and I believe homeowners will start to use electricity quite differently. 

Is it any more difficult for me to start my laundry before work rather than after?  Not really.  Has that become my habit after learning that the peak energy use hours in CA after afternoon and evening hours, not morning hours?  Absolutely.  I could see smart meters and other smart grid technology having the same impact. 

I also spent some time with a "Kill-a-watt", a device that goes between an appliance's plug and the wall outlet.  Once you turn the appliance on the Kill-a-watt can tell you how much energy your appliance uses in an hour, day, week, or month, and if you enter your utility rate it will also tell you how much it costs to operate it.  After plugging the power strip for my entertainment system into the Kill-a-watt and seeing how much the "phantom energy" it uses when it's off, but plugged in was costing me, I started flipping the off-switch on the power strip. 

I can't wait to get my hands on a smart meter and hopefully reduce my energy usage even further, and move more of it to off peak hours!

By David Belden