AT&T, GE, Google, Intel: National Smart Grid Integration Could Save $46B in Energy

April 6, 2010\

AT&T, GE, Google, Intel: National Smart Grid Integration Could Save $46B in Energy

about 45 companies and organizations have united in an effort to push for greater national integration of the smart grid, especially as it pertains to business and consumer energy monitoring, pointing to a potential $46 billion in nationwide energy savings.

In an open letter to the president, the Climate Group coalition received the support of firms such as AT&T, GE, Intel, Google, HP and Verizon, among others. Non-profits including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Alliance to Save Energy also have signed on. Read the letter here (PDF).

The group wants the White House to launch a research effort to forge the best way to provide energy use information while at the same time establishing privacy rules, reports Information Week. Even a year ago, privacy was floated as aleading impediment to smart grid adoption.

Michael Terrell, Energy Policy Counsel for Google, wrote on Google’s blog that the effort would “unleash innovation in homes and businesses as new energy saving technologies and apps are developed.” In related news, Google and the Climate Group are hosting an April 6 smart grid discussion in Washington, D.C., with the White House energy official Carol Browner.

In the letter, the coalition stated that if investments in efficiency and the smart grid led to 15 percent U.S. household energy savings by 2020, that would equate $46 billion in energy bill savings. In terms of emissions, that would be the same as taking 35 million cars off the road.

The group also wants electricity customers to have greater access to pricing and pricing plans, as well as information about how the energy was generated.

The letter asked the White House to direct the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to make such information available as a criterion for consideration in policy decisions, grants and other energy efficiency programs.

By 2015, the global household smart appliance market is projected to grow to $15.12 billion, from $3.06 billion in 2011, according to research from Zpryme.

From the energy delivery side, synchrophasors play a huge role in helping the smart grid deliver more power, more efficiently.